


You only live twice

by JediBatman



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, James Bond References, Older Woman/Younger Man, Slight Canon Divergence, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-05-31 07:49:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15114941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediBatman/pseuds/JediBatman
Summary: After the Resistance is forced to abandon their flagship Raddus in order to evade the First Order, Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo decides to go down with the ship.Poe Dameron has other ideas though. Consumed by guilt for his behavior towards her and by a vision for a new and better Resistance, he decides to save her life. To do so, he sets a secret plan in motion.But saving Holdo's life is only the first step in his plan. For Dameron to succeed in both his objectives, he needs to earn her respect, forgive her and earn her forgiveness, ensure her cooperation, and perhaps... love her?“There are roads which must not be followed [...] commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed”.Sun Tzu (ancient Chinese general... but his message also applies to Officer Poe Dameron).





	1. Raddus swan song

**Author's Note:**

> I am really fond of both Dameron and Holdo. I believe they would make a great team... if they somehow reconciled their differences.
> 
> There are going to be some James Bond references (I am a huge Bond fan since 1994). They are plot relevant though. Let's just assume 007 is also a fictional character in the Star Wars Universe.

It had been a really bad day for Captain Poe Dameron. It all had started when he disobeyed a direct order not to attack a First Order dreadnought. The attack had been a success but it costed the Resistance its entire bomber fleet. As a punishment General Leia Organa had demoted him.

A few hours later the First Order attacked the small Resistance fleet and managed to kill hundreds of Resistance members. They also hit Raddus bridge where five out of six Resistance senior leaders were located, killing four of them.

Only Leia Organa survived but she remained in a coma. As a result, the leadership of the Resistance was transferred to Vice AdmiralAmilynn Holdo, the commanding officer of light cruiser Ninka.

After Holdo's introductory speech, Dameron had asked her for her plan. But she had brushed him aside, mentioning his recent demotion due to the deaths of the bomber crews. A really bad start for certain.

A few hours later, Finn and Rose realized the First Order had developed hyperspace tracking technology and informed Dameron. After their initial bad start, he decided not to inform Holdo and launch an operation to neutralize the technology himself.

Meanwhile, the situation was worsening. Their ships were running out of fuel, and they already had lost three smaller vessels due to enemy fire. Poe faced Holdo again. She still refused to tell him anything. They had an argument on the bridge, and she ordered him away, still saying nothing. He even called her a traitor, although he soon regretted saying it.

In the end, the situation had become desperate. Seeing no alternative, Poe led a mutiny against the Vice Admiral. She managed to evade capture and stun some of her opponents but Poe managed to take control of the bridge and stun her supporters as well. Only Leia's intervention ended the mutiny. Unfortunately, Leia stunned him, something Poe would never forgive.

When Poe regained consciousness, Leia informed him about the evacuation plan. They would use the Raddus escape transports, but they had developed cloaking technology to avoid detection. Meanwhile, Raddus would keep moving to draw attention away from the transports. The plan made sense to him. The First Order was hunting them using about thirty capital ships, including their flagship Supremacy. Fighting against them was suicidal. Only evasion would work.

When Leia told him Amilyn Holdo would remain on board and sacrifice her life for the Resistance, Poe felt guilty as hell. Holdo was a decent person and wanted to die to save them all. But why had she behaved like a bitch and had been so secretive?

An idea crossed his mind. After a few minutes, he had expanded it to a concrete plan. He found C-3PO, Leia's personal protocol droid and gave him some specific instructions. Then he went to his cabin. He returned a few minutes later holding a small bag.

He found C-3PO again. “Yes, you have the General's permission”, the droid said. Poe smiled.

“Thanks C-3PO. Time to become more strategic.” He looked at the bridge crew. His eyes fell to Vice Admiral Holdo. She was a tall, slim, and elegant woman. And he had to admit she was very beautiful.

He would make that admission many more times during the following days.

 

The hours passed. It was time to abandon ship. Poe Dameron entered one of the transports. Before entering, he nodded C-3PO. The droid nodded back.

“Poe is a little troublemaker, isn't he?”

“I believe he will change”, Amilyn said with much more affection than Leia expected. And a much bigger and warmer smile.

“I have lost so many people. So many good people”, Leia Organa said.

“You can afford to lose another one”, Amilyn Holdo replied.

“May... oh I always say that.”

“May the Force be with you General”, Holdo said and hugged her. Leia turned around, ready to enter her transport. C-3PO walked a few steps forward and stood before the Vice Admiral.

“It's been an honor Admiral”, the droid said.

“Thank you C-3PO. Take care of the General.”

“I will. Someone will take care of you as well. There is a message for you... in an envelope under the main console.”

After delivering the message, the droid turned around and left, entering the same transport as Leia. It was the last transport to leave Raddus. Amilyn watched its movements for a few seconds and then went to the bridge. She was alone now.

 

Amilyn was almost certain who had left the message for her. Maybe she had misunderstood Dameron. After all, Leia had trusted him enough to tell him about their evacuation plan. But what exactly had Dameron done for the Resistance? She had to admit she didn't know.

She also had to admit she had limited information. Ninka had been away from the main Resistance base for most of the time. Information was sparse, only covered the basics and usually came with delays of several days. For instance, she had learned about the destruction of the Starkiller base, but she didn't know who had commanded the attack against it.

Maybe she had been unfair to Dameron. But everything had happened so fast, in less than twenty-four hours. She had to run the Resistance, come up with an escape plan, and make sure everyone survived.

In any case, she was on the bridge now. Standing in front of the main console, she searched under the main radar screen and found a small envelope, addressed to her. She opened it and started reading.

 

“I am so terribly sorry for everything. I was so stupid, and so rude and insulting. And disobedient. I never meant anything wrong though.”

“I understand you are ready to sacrifice your life for the Resistance. This is noble... but you don't have to do it! I have managed to repair one of the bridge escape pods. It is pod 007.”

“I have put a bag with some items of value and a letter with further instructions in the pod. Please read it when you are safe.”

“I know I should have informed you in advance about the pod... but I have my reasons. I will analyze them when we meet again... hopefully in a few days.”

“Once more good luck... and sorry for everything. Poe Dameron.”

 

Amilyn Holdo was brave. But she wasn't suicidal. If an opportunity to preserve her life presented itself, she was not going to let it pass by.

Capital ships had many escape pods to ensure the survival of their crews. For safety reasons they didn't place all of them in one area. For the heavy cruiser Raddus, one of the escape pod areas was next to the ship bridge.

When the First Order attack damaged the Raddus bridge, they also had damaged many of the escape pods. Fortunately, one of them had only suffered light damages and Poe Dameron had managed to repair it.

Why hadn't he informed her earlier? Maybe it was a secret test of character to see whether she really was going to sacrifice her life for the Resistance. Maybe she had earned his respect and his admiration for her courage.

A red light flashed on the main console. The transports were under attack!

 

Inside one of the transports Poe Dameron was lost in his thoughts. It had been a very nasty confrontation with Holdo. But something inside him told him it was not Amilyn to blame but Leia Organa. The more he thought of it, the more sense it made.

The only weak spot of his plan was Amilyn Holdo. He didn't know much about her and thus he could not predict her behavior. He would have to talk to survivors from her crew and read everything he could about her.

A loud voice stopped his train of thought. "They hit one of our transports” one of the people on board said. Poe looked from the window. He could only see a distant fire. He could also see laser beams around them. They had found them. Weren't the transports supposed to be cloaked?

 

“Weren't the transports supposed to be cloaked?” Holdo asked herself. What had gone wrong? She had no way to know and no time to contemplate. She had to do something to save the transports... now!

Fortunately, Holdo had already decided what to do. Her plan had always been to ram Raddus to the First Order flagship as a final fuck you from the Resistance. She would do exactly that, just a bit earlier.

With speed and efficiency, the Vice Admiral pressed the right buttons and moved the right levers. The ship started turning, no longer running away from the First Order. Raddus was facing the enemy flagship now.

Holdo put all shields to maximum power. That would deplete the ship batteries, but they had enough energy for the few minutes till the collision with the enemy.

It was time for the final attack run. The Vice Admiral put the engines to maximum power and activated the afterburner to further increase the cruiser speed. It was going to be a nasty surprise for the First Order.

She looked at the radar screen again. Out of the twenty dots representing Resistance transports, two were gone. At least she would manage to save the nine tenths of them.

Amilyn picked up Poe's letter and pocketed it, then run to the pod. It was unlocked, and she opened it with the press of a button. She only hoped it was functional.

 

“The Admiral is turning the ship around. She is going to ram them!” a young lieutenant said. Poe noticed the man had Ninka insignia, Holdo's former command. He decided to have a talk with him when the crisis was over.

“She is really brave”, Poe commented. “And she is going to save us all.” He was impressed. He wouldn't have thought of a better plan himself. He only hoped she had read his message and decided to escape.

 

Inside the pod, Holdo pressed a button and its hatch closed. She could already feel the acceleration of the heavy cruiser. It would hit the First Order flagship in a few minutes.

With the hatch closed, Holdo activated the pod's control panel. Holding her breath she pressed the launch button on the console. Within two seconds, the pod launched into space at a vertical angle compared to Raddus course.

The sudden acceleration surprised Holdo. She didn't expect escape pods could move that fast. It made sense though. The pod had to leave the collision area as soon as possible. In a few seconds, the pod main engines would burn all of their fuel and the acceleration would stop. Hopefully, she would be too far away to be attacked by the First Order.

The pod engines stopped and the acceleration stopped. Holdo used the command console to rotate the pod and have a better look at the enemy. From the small window in front of her, she observed dozens of turbolasers firing at Raddus, trying to blow it up. The enemy flagship and all the nearby capital ships had focused their attacks on the cruiser, completely ignoring the escaping Resistance transports.

The Vice Admiral observed the enemy flagship. It was turning in order to avoid the collision. But it was many kilometers wide and there was not enough time for that. Raddus would still hit its right wind and perhaps cut a chunk of it.

Many enemy capital ships also turned to evade the collision area. It was meaningless though. There was not enough time for any serious maneuvers. Besides, they were tightly packed. Holdo could only wonder about the wisdom of having about thirty capital ships trying to hunt a small fleet and then just having them follow their flagship without doing anything.

Supremacy, the First Order flagship, was sixty kilometers long and thirty kilometers wide. It was too big a target to miss. And Raddus didn't. The last Resistance cruiser pierced the Supremacy energy shields and then continued its destructive course against the hull and the superstructure.

The collision was so hard Raddus disintegrated in it. At the same time it caused considerable damage to Supremacy. Holdo could see pieces of the enemy flagship blown away and drifting in space, threatening to cause further damage to other enemy capital ships. Some of them actually did, as she could observe. At least one more capital ship was hit by the debris.

The enemy capital ships were firing their lasers wildly in many directions, so as to neutralize the space debris. Hitting them would break them into smaller pieces, which couldn't pierce their energy shields. They also launched many small spacecraft, mostly TIE fighters, probably to add more firepower to the mix. However, the unshielded starfighters had no chance to survive against fast moving debris.

Holdo could observe small explosions everywhere. Some of them were missiles hitting debris. Others were either TIE fighters blowing up or bigger spaceships hit by debris. She wondered how many capital ships would be lost or damaged.

Fortunately, nobody had come hunting for her. She also hoped none of those starfighters had tried to hunt the unarmored and unarmed Resistance transports as Dameron had described them. She had to admit he was right.

Since there is no gravity or friction in space, after Holdo's pod accelerated, it maintained its speed. A few minutes later, she was dozens of kilometers away from the First Order armada.

 

Poe Dameron could see a tear in the man's face. He decided to comfort him.

“You were really concerned about the Admiral lieutenant.”

“We lost so many people from my crew. The bomber squadron, now our leader...”

Poe could not breathe. The bombers had been part of Ninka. Holdo had been the leader of the bomber squadron for years. Why hadn't anyone told him. Why hadn't he found out himself? Was that why she had been so upset and dismissive about him from the beginning? She had a point of course... but hadn't anyone told her and her crew what the bomber squadron had accomplished destroying that dreadnought and how many lives that would save in the long run?

“You ordered the bombers to attack, didn't you?” There was hostility in the man's voice.

“I understand how you feel”, Poe replied. “When I led the Starkiller base attack, most of the fighters didn't...” The lieutenant cut him short.

“The Starkiller base attack?” There was genuine surprise in his eyes.

“Yes. We destroyed the base. But we lost many of our people.”

“Wait a minute Captain. You led the attack? You?” The lieutenant looked at him as if he had seen a ghost.


	2. Escape from Supremacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn, Rose, and Rey escape from the First Order flagship. At the same time Poe Dameron has a very sumbolic nightmare... and so does Amilyn Holdo thousands of kilometers away.
> 
> Amilyn realises Dameron is a war hero, something she didn't know. She also realises they both have a common admiration for Bond, James Bond.

The super dreadnought Supremacy was the flagship of the First Order. Sixty kilometers long, thirty kilometers wide, with extensive hangar bays big enough to accommodate even capital ships, with extensive manufacturing and repair facilities and more than two million crew members Supremacy was more than a capital ship: it was a mother ship, a flagship, the mobile capital of the First Order, and one of the most powerful ships ever created.

Poe Dameron had secretly sent Finn and Rose Tico to Canto Bight to find a slicer. A person combining the skills of a burglar and a computer hacker, recruit him, secretly enter the First Order flagship, find where the enemy hyperspace tracker was located, and then blow it up. Unfortunately, the First Order had the common sense to post a lot of guards in the room where the tracker was located and Finn, Rose, and the slicer got caught.

In another attempt to infiltrate the First Order, Rey, the Force sensitive scavenger from Jakku had entered Supremacy trying to locate Kylo Ren and convince him to abandon his master. Unfortunately, it all had been a trap. Kylo Ren arrested her and presented her to Supreme Leader Snoke. But in a cruel twist of fate, Kylo killed Snoke while his attention was focused on Rey and then used her assistance to eliminate Snoke's bodyguards. 

For a few seconds Rey was optimistic: Kylo had returned to the light side. That was not the case though. Kylo Ren never did and never had the intention to leave the First Order. He simply wanted to kill his boss and take his place. Rey had been nothing more than a distraction.

Rey and Kylo Ren were in a stalemate in Snoke's throne room both trying to Force grab the lightsaber that once upon a time belonged to Darth Vader. In the end the lightsaber broke. A few seconds later, Raddus rammed Supremacy and the shock of the collision threw both of them to the floor. Rey recovered first, picked up an energy staff from one of the dead bodyguards and run away. 

After killing three First Order stormtroopers who tried to stop her escape, Rey boarded the pod she had used to enter Supremacy and escaped. Chewie was waiting for her at a safe distance on board the Millennium Falcon. They would soon join the rest of the Resistance. 

Meanwhile, Finn and Rose took advantage of the collision and the chaos that ensued and escaped. They got really lucky because Snoke's personal spaceship had also been in the hangar they were. To make matters even better, there were two pilots on board it at all times, ready to fly the ship at a moment's notice. The First Order uniforms Finn and Rose wore didn't convince the pilots but their drawn blasters did the trick. Soon Snoke's spaceship was away, trying to evade the debris Raddus attack had created. 

 

It took a few hours for the Resistance transports to reach Crait, an isolated planet with an abandoned Rebel Alliance base. Fortunately, no First Order spaceships attacked them during their journey.

“No, we didn't know it was you who led the X-wings against Starkiller Base. Most of us thought you were just an overrated hotshot who ordered our bombers to attack in order to prove yourself.”

“Including the Admiral?”, Poe asked.

“Even Vice Admiral Holdo didn't know. Ninka was always far away from the main Resistance forces. We only got basic info. We learned about the attack but not who did it.”

Poe Dameron was an experienced military commander. He also understood human psychology. He knew what every soldier wants to hear about other soldiers he cares about: that their sacrifices were not in vain. So he spent the journey explaining the lieutenant that the Ninka bomber squadron had not been sacrificed for nothing. They had blown up a dreadnought and that would actually save many allied bases and many allied capital ships from destruction. 

Of course there was Poe's role in the mutiny against Holdo, an incident he deeply regretted. But he still believed it had been the right choice with the very limited information he had. Only Holdo herself could help him with that... if she had survived. 

 

Thousands of kilometers away, a small escape pod was drifting in space. Amilyn Holdo was inside it trying to calm herself from the destruction she had just caused to the First Order and plan her next move.

Dameron had mentioned a bag inside the pod where a letter with instructions and some items of value were there for her. She took a final look at the direction of the First Order, and then opened the bag. She found four items: an envelope, a wallet, a datapad, and... a medal case? She decided to start with the letter.

“If you are reading these lines, it means you are alive and safe. Thank goodness for that! I really respect and admire you Admiral, and I can assure you that everything I did — including my mutiny — had good intentions. I also want to once more apologize for my stupid comments against you.”

“There is a huge difference between two jerks and two decent people who had a bad day and a bad misunderstanding. I believe we are both the latter and I believe the main reason for that was lack of information. For that reason I have put information in the datapad about me, my achievements, and my history in the Resistance.”

“The datapad also contains instructions about how to escape to a safe location where I can pick you up later, including coordinates you can enter the pod computer. There is also a wallet with some money for your expenses if you don't carry money with you.”

“The smaller box contains my medal for the Starkiller base attack. I decided to entrust it to you because frankly I believe you have a higher chance of surviving than the rest of us. Good luck!” 

Holdo opened the medal box. It contained the Resistance Medal of Honor, the highest decoration one of its members could receive. It also contained a small handwritten message. She recognized Leia's handwriting. 

“For your skill as a pilot and for your skill as a leader of the squadrons that destroyed the Starkiller Base, I award you the highest decoration we have. You now belong to a small and select group of people who have managed to destroy an enemy superweapon: Luke Skywalker, Lando Carlissian, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Poe Dameron.”

“May the Force be with you Commander Dameron.”

People who lead suicide attacks against enemy superweapons are not reckless flyboys with big egos but competent and heroic leaders. Having succeeded in such an attack makes you more than a hero. It makes you a legend. No matter what you do afterwards, people have the duty to at least stop for a few seconds and contemplate your decisions and not rush to condemn them. If Poe Dameron had disobeyed a direct order, Poe Dameron might have really good reasons to do so... and maybe he had been right to do so.

“How could I be so stupid? So insulting, so unable to understand?”

 

Poe Dameron was standing in front of Amilyn Holdo. They were both on Raddus bridge. 

“What is the bloody plan Admiral?” He was rude and angry.

“Please, calm down Captain. I can only tell you...” She was calm and polite.

“The bloody plan Admiral!” 

“I will tell you some of the details soon. Calm down, will you?”

“You will tell me now bitch!” Poe drew his gun. 

“What are you doing Captain?”

“Final warning Admiral! Tell me or I shoot!”

“Calm down Captain. Please!”

“You are a traitor!” He pulled the trigger. 

Holdo looked at him, a look of surprise on her face. Then she looked at her chest. Her elegant purple dress had a huge hole in the middle of it. It was soaked with her blood. She looked at him again, still surprised and fell to the floor, dead.

 

“No, I am sorry. I didn't...” Poe opened his eyes, only to see he was still on Crait and not on board Raddus. He was covered in sweat. It had just been a bad nightmare. Finn was looking at him.

“Hey Poe! Calm down! It's me Finn!”

“Finn! You made it! What happened?”

Finn described his buddy the journey from Raddus to Canto Bight, their semi-successful attempt to find a slicer, their infiltration of Supremacy, their capture, and their final escape. He also mentioned they had captured Snoke's personal spaceship, and they had brought two First Order pilots as prisoners with them. 

“By the way, C-3PO gave me this letter for you.” Poe took it. Could it be a letter... from Amilyn?

Soon the orders came to evacuate the base. An allied, medium-sized cruiser came to the base and picked most of the Resistance survivors. The rest entered the captured Snoke's spaceship and the Millennium Falcon that had just arrived. Their destination was an Outer Rim planet, away from the First Order.

“I am so happy to se you again Rey!” Finn said with a big smile.

“So am I Finn!” Rey replied. 

 

“I ask respectfully Admiral. Could you please tell me some details about our course of action?” He was calm and polite.

“Your sweet-talking has no effect on my flyboy!” She was rude and sarcastic.

“It is not about me Admiral. And I am not sweet-talking. Just asking.”

“Get the hell out of the bridge. Now!” Poe turned around and left as asked. Holdo looked at him.

“Hey, wait. Come back. I am sorry! Captain! Please!” But the bridge entrance closed behind him and didn't open. She banged it with her fists but it remained closed.

“Please Captain! I am sorry! I... ” Holdo opened her eyes and touched her face. There were tears on her cheeks. She felt guilty as hell. The man had lost most of his squadron in a suicide attack. He was probably traumatized. And she had talked to him like that...

 

On board the Millennium Falcon Poe Dameron opened the letter and read it. It was from Amilyn Holdo! They had made the same thought!

“I entrusted the letter to C-3PO with orders not to tell a word to Leia. I know something is off... and I know it because I know about our evacuation plan... the one I refused to share with you.”

“I don't know if I survive this. But I do know how sorry I am for the way I talked and behaved to you Poe. I was disrespectful and sarcastic. I don't take your mutiny personally. I was more shocked than angered by it.”

“In any case, I wish you good luck. Your actions remind me of a long forgotten song from a long forgotten movie about a long forgotten secret agent: He always runs while others walk... He acts while other men just talk.”

“Good luck Poe!”

Poe reread the last phrase with a wide grin on his face. It was from the soundtrack of a movie called “Thunderball”, about a fictional secret agent with the code number 007 named Bond, James Bond. 

The film series had been created thousands of years ago, but he had found and seen all of them. So far in his life he had never met anyone who knew about 007... until Amilyn Holdo!

“I already like you Amilyn”, he said in a whisper trying not to let anyone hear him.

 

Amilyn's pod had jumped to hyperspace while she was asleep and was now above an almost deserted planet. According to Poe's datapad...

“It is a small and discreet place run by the legendary smuggler Maz Kanata. I have given her instructions to wait for you.”

“This is your second life Amilyn. To use a phrase from a long forgotten song from a long forgotten movie about a long forgotten secret agent: You only live twice... or so it seems.”

Amilyn reread the last phrase with a wide grin on her face. It was the soundtrack of a movie called “You Only Live Twice”, another 007 movie. So far in her life she had never met anyone who knew about them... until Poe Dameron!

“I already like you Poe”, she told herself while disembarking the small pod in the darkness. She could recognize the figure of Maz Kanata in the distance. She was waiting for her. 

“You only live twice Amilyn. Welcome to your second life!” she told herself the moment her feet touched the ground.


	3. The name is Bond. James Bond!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe Dameron interrogates the two First Order prisoners, tries to obtain permission to go to a mission and meets Major Boothroyd, also known as Q!
> 
> Meanwhile, Amilyn Holdo tries to understand why Poe commited mutiny against her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q is a major character in 007 films. Here he have his colleague in a Star Wars setting. They also have the same surname!

The three spaceships carrying the surviving Resistance members landed on a far away planet in the Outer Rim. The more than three hundred survivors disembarked and tried to find shelter in the confined spaces of the allied base. The two First Order pilots Finn and Rose had captured were led to holding cells deep inside the base.

An idea crossed Poe's mind. For his plan to work, he needed to find an excuse to leave the Resistance for a few days, meet Holdo — if she was still alive — convince her to cooperate with him, and then return to the base with her. The two pilots could offer him this excuse. So he approached Leia Organa requesting to interrogate them. 

Leia Organa was not exactly thrilled to see him. She could not forget his disobedience to one of her direct orders — conveniently ignoring it had been a foolish order in the first place — and his mutiny. She was cold and distant. Nevertheless, she gave him her permission.

As Poe knew, the First Order was trying to obtain as much military technology as possible from every possible source. They were buying, bribing, stealing, assassinating or simply threatening everyone who possessed it in the galaxy. They both wanted to have it for themselves and to prevent anyone else from obtaining it. 

Of course that information was not exactly news for the Resistance. They knew about the First Order tactics. Nevertheless, their tempo had intensified at least tenfold the moment they openly attacked the Republic by blowing up the Hosnian System. 

After having spent hours interrogating the two officers, Poe had some interesting information. The First Order leadership was specifically interested in obtaining cloaking technology. If they obtained it, they could move everywhere in the Galaxy undetected. Combining it with the hyperspace tracking technology they already had, they could track concentrations of anti-First Order fleets, attack them undetected, and then disappear. A nightmarish scenario.

Of course, the Resistance and its allies would eventually develop really effective cloaking technology to neutralize the First Order hyperspace tracking system. But how many months would pass till they developed it? And how many lives would be lost till then? Probably millions.

The best source of obtaining such technology from weapons manufacturers was Canto Bight, a casino planet. Apart from that, it was a place where hundreds of shadow deals took place on a daily basis. 

The First Order had enormous stakes on Canto Bight. During the period they still operated in the shadows, they had used gambling as a means for money laundering. The local authorities did not want to lose such lucrative customers, so they turned a blind eye on their crimes in other parts of the Galaxy. When the First Order blew up the Hosnian System they realized their error... but it was too late by then.

Should Poe ask Holdo to meet him in Canto Bight? On the one hand it was a peaceful place, away from the horrors of the war. The First Order still operated in subtle ways there. On the other hand, Amilyn Holdo was a senior officer and certainly a valuable target for the enemy. 

Well, Holdo was certainly brave and Canto Bight was certainly classy. Besides, how many safe places existed where he could talk to her without another Resistance member overhearing? Not so many. In addition, he might need some help in the mission he was planning. So why not? 

Since the Resistance was currently out of X-wing spacecraft and spaceships in general — the only two exceptions being the Millennium Falcon and Snoke's captured vessel — there was no need for pilots. Poe Dameron had all the luxury to volunteer for the mission there. He could secretly communicate with Maz Kanata to give her instructions she would “confidentially” reveal to Leia. 

After a few minutes of conversation via holodeck, Poe Dameron informed Maz Kanata about his plan. She agreed to help. She also informed him about something really important. 

“She is alive!” he whispered to himself. “She has made it!” Poe Dameron was so happy Amilyn Holdo had survived the destruction of Raddus. 

“Time to think of my plan now... and my apology”, he told himself.

 

The next step in Poe's plan was out of his hands. He just had to wait and...

“Captain? The General wants to see you.”

“But of course C-3PO! We must not let M waiting!” Poe replied.

“M? Who is M Captain?” 

How disappointing! C-3PO didn't know about the legendary 007 or M, Bond's bitchy boss. M was just like Leia, his own boss. 

“Oh, never mind. Let's go.” 

 

The meeting with Leia Organa was typical and professional. She had no sympathy towards him and the feelings were mutual. She considered him a reckless flyboy. He considered her an incompetent and irresponsible leader. How had she become a General with zero officer training? How had she neglected to have their spaceships fueled?

In any case, she listened to his briefing and dispatched him to Major Boothroyd, an allied officer specializing in gadgetry and data analysis. His official title was Quartermaster. Poe Dameron had a really good feeling about him. 

Major Boothroyd had a small lab in the base. As C-3PO had instructed him, Poe entered the lab and waited for the Major to arrive. While waiting, he started singing his favorite song. It was none other than “Thunderball”.

“He always runs while others walk...”

“He acts while other men just talk...” The lab door opened and Major Boothroyd entered just as Poe had finished the second verse. He was an almost bald man in his early sixties. He appeared calm and collected but there were medals on his uniform, medals only Special Forces people had earned. Without warning, the Major started singing.

“He looks at this world and wants it all...” It was the third verse in Thunderball. Then without hesitation both men sang the fourth verse in a loud voice. 

“So he strikes...like Thunderball!” Both men smiled.

“Captain Dameron at your services Major”, Poe said standing in attention. 

“At ease Commander. Yes, you are a Commander no matter what the morons say. I am Major Boothroyd. But let me ask you something. Are you a fan of the great, the magnificent, the legendary 007?”

“I have seen all of his films at least twice Major.” Boothroyd offered his hand to Poe Dameron.

“Then you have earned the right to call me... Q.” Q was a major character in James Bond films. He was a gadgets' genius, having created gadgets varying from explosive pens to armored cars. In a remarkable coincidence, his surname was also Boothroyd. 

“It is an honor Q. As you might already know, I have just interrogated two First Order officers, and I am about to undertake a mission in another planet.”

“Yes, the stealth technology. You will need a slasher, then you will need to break into a weapon manufacturer's villa using his burglary skills, then you will need to hack his computer using his hacking skills, steal the plans, and get out of there. Did I forget anything?”

“Yes. I am not going there as Poe Dameron. I am going there using an assumed name... one I chose myself.” He was smiling. Q could not hide his enthusiasm.

“Say the name Commander. Say it!”

“The name is Bond. James Bond!”

“You really made my day 007! Now let's go to serious stuff. I need an honest answer to my next question.”

“Of course Q.”

“Do you like ice in your whiskey?”

 

After some hours of needed rest, Amilyn Holdo woke up in her small room. Maz Kanata had left her some food to eat and some water to drink. She had insisted she should not go to the mess hall. A lonely woman of her considerable beauty would immediately attract everyone's attention and not of the good kind.

Holdo's mind wandered to the events of the previous days. One particular event struck her: Dameron's mutiny against her. 

She remembered him with other Resistance members around him threatening her and two of her closest officers with their blasters, demanding to learn what the Resistance plan was. She remembered her managing to escape them, mostly due to luck. She remembered herself drawing her blaster, setting it to stun mode and firing against some of the mutineers, while they fired against her and Resistance members loyal to her. 

But mostly she remembered the moment they had fired against her was the moment she realized she had done something terribly stupid. 

She could easily dismiss Poe Dameron as a hotshot flyboy who was bitter with senior officers because one of them had demoted him for disobedience. But how could she dismiss his co-mutineers? They all knew Dameron had been demoted, yet they had followed him in his mutiny. Why?

Holdo remembered herself barely managing to reach the hospital wing of Raddus and frantically searching for Leia Organa, the only person who could end the mutiny without loss of life. She remembered waking her up and briefly explaining what had happened.

But she also remembered she had entered the hospital bay alone. She had ordered, she had pleaded, she had screamed for Resistance members to help her... but nobody had done so. She was a Vice Admiral, yet a demoted Captain had managed to have more loyal supporters than her. Why?

That was the moment Amilyn Holdo finally started respecting Poe Dameron. If you can have so much support despite a demotion, then you really are someone special. And perhaps... you really had good reasons to mutiny in the first place.

Soon the mutiny ended. Leia Organa convinced everyone to lay down their weapons. She even shot and stunned Dameron to end the mutiny for good. Holdo remembered her horror when she first saw him on a stretcher and her relief when she realized he was still alive. 

That was the moment she also realized she liked him... as a woman. Her mind had even wandered briefly to some scenarios involving him and her.

In the end, Leia had told Dameron about their evacuation plan... and Dameron had agreed with it. Holdo felt like a total idiot. For hours, she had refused to share that information with him. You don't share such information with a hot-headed, reckless flyboy... only with a true officer.

Holdo had been under so much pressure during the last hours. She was the last surviving senior officer, and she had to run the Resistance while most staff officers were dead. She could be excused for not making the backstory of Poe Dameron her first priority.

“I never sat down for a minute to understand”, she told herself with tears in her eyes. “It was my fault... but I didn't have time for anything.”

 

“So you essentially tried to force the issue there Commander”, Q said. They were discussing Poe's mutiny. Q had already heard the rumors but it was different when you heard them from the main protagonist. Despite just meeting him, Poe fully trusted Q.

“If Poe did such a thing, he certainly had his reasons” Finn said. He had joined them in Q's lab. The three men sat on chairs opposite each other. They already had drunk half a bottle of whiskey.

“I thought the Vice Admiral had no plan at all. In the end she had. But she didn't want to share it with me.”

“Transparency is a serious issue you know”, Q replied. “People keep secrets all the time for no reason at all. I always hear conspiracy theories about imaginary sleeper agents. It makes me sick.”

“If she shared the plans with you, she should also share them with everyone else”, Finn said. “She might be afraid there was a traitor on board.”

“Actually there is another explanation”, Q said. He told them his idea.

“Oh goodness”, Poe said. “And the worst of all... it makes sense!”

 

“Come in!” Holdo said, when someone knocked the door. It was Maz Kanata. She had a message for her. When she told Amilyn...

“You are alive! You made it Poe!” There were tears in Amilyn's eyes... but this time they were tears of joy.


	4. Meeting at Casino Royale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Poe Dameron and Amilyn Holdo travel to Canto Bight to meet each other and accomplish their mission to obtain technology that will save lives for the Resistance and its allies.
> 
> Will the two Resistance officers overcome their fears and approach each other in a friendly and respectful manner?

“So when the First Order attacked Takodama, where my main base of operations was, I thought that was it. Fortunately, the Resistance helped us.”

“Let me guess. Poe Dameron?” Holdo asked. They were flying to Canto Bight, Maz Kanata as the pilot and Vice Admiral Holdo as passenger.

“Who else? His squadron made a low level ground attack and eliminated all First Order attackers.” 

“Poe is really a remarkable man”, Holdo said with a lot of affection, something Maz Kanata noticed. 

“Yes, and he is really fond of you. We spoke through holoprojector, and he was so happy when I told him you made it. I think he is falling for you... and from the tone of your voice you are falling for him as well.”

“I think I am. We had some … professional disagreements in the recent past but I believe we are both adults capable of solving them.” Maz Kanata nodded in agreement.

“To continue, the First Order might return and I had a ... professional disagreement with some of my employees, as you might say. That is why I left my main base in Takodama for the time being. OK Admiral. Hyperspace jump in two minutes. Let's do it.”

 

“The Q department has prepared two special gadgets for your mission in Canto Bight. Ready to see them 007?”

“I am all eyes and ears Q”, Poe Dameron replied.

“The first one is a special watch. It has three functions. It fires poison darts, it fires tranquilizer darts, and last but not least... it shows you the time!” Q really had a weird sense of humor, much to Poe's liking.

“I did not expect the last part. What else Q?”

“An explosive pen. It has two functions.”

“Let me guess. Blowing things up and... writing?”

“Exactly 007! I will give you two of them plus ten poison and ten tranquilizer darts for the watch.”

“Thanks Q.”

“You are welcome 007. And just between you and me ... you did the right thing back there. The dreadnought, the mutiny, all of it. You saved them all ... plus the millions that dreadnought would have killed if left unharmed.”

“I appreciate that Major.”

“Bon voyage Mr. Bond.”

Poe Dameron left Major Boothroyd's lab and headed for the hangar bay. Finn, Rey, and Chewie were waiting for him. He was happy to see Finn had sobered up after having drunk so much whiskey.

“Ready to go Captain?” Rey asked. 

“Ready to go Rey” Poe replied. 

According to plan, they would leave Dameron to Canto Bight, and then they would continue to Alch-To, an Outer Rim planet. 

Alch-To was the place where Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi Master was located. Rey and Chewie had already made one attempt to convince him to join them. They had failed but at least Rey had picked some Jedi knowledge along the way. Perhaps this time, Luke would listen and join the Resistance.

Poe Dameron was a bit skeptical about the plan. Why hadn't Leia Organa herself joined them? Luke Skywalker was her brother after all, and she had more influence to him than Rey, someone the Jedi Master had just met. Why had she sent others to do her bidding? 

In his opinion Leia Organa was the typical bad leader. Ineffective, pompous, ready to pass blame to others, and unable to own her mistakes. The last days had been a case study of her incompetence. She could certainly talk the talk but walk the walk? Not so much.

Poe Dameron wondered what Amilyn's opinion of Leia Organa was. Granted, they had been close friends and associates for decades ... but she had given him a letter instructing C-3PO not to give it to Leia. 

Poe Dameron closed his eyes and tried to catch a nap. In a few hours he would be in Canto Bight, ready to meet a Maz Kanata agent. Her code name was Trench, Sylvia Trench ... but her real name was Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo.

 

“If Poe Dameron wants to talk to you, you'd better listen. He is smart, brave, resourceful, and never backs down. I am not saying to agree with him. I am just saying to listen.”

“That is what I am going to do. I own Poe my life after all.”

“I know he has a plan. And you are part of it. Although I am certain he would have saved your life even if you weren't part of it.”

Maz Kanata and Amilyn Holdo spent the next hour going through the plan. Holdo already had changed her appearance. Her hair were back to their natural blonde, and she wore dark blue clothes. 

“You are still gorgeous Admiral. But now you are a socialite named Sylvia Trench.”

Amilyn smiled. Sylvia Trench was the name of the first Bond girl. The name had been Poe's idea according to Maz.

“So your plan is to gain access to the safe of a particular person, an arms merchant. I know you cannot afford to buy his technologies... but you might try to steal them.”

“We shall need a slicer for that... and I know Poe had tried to recruit one. I know about his crazy plan. On second thoughts though, I think his plan was as bad as mine.”

“He needed to disable the hyperspace transmitter on board their flagship. Better risk two lives to do so than the entire Resistance.”

Maz Kanata went on to explain the requirements of the task at hand. She was to shadow the slicer and try to talk to him when an opportunity presented itself. She was certain Amilyn was much more comfortable moving in a casino than Finn or Rose had been. If the slicer agreed, Amilyn would use his skills to gain access to the merchant's safe.

Maz Kanata warned Holdo there was a competitor there, a competitor with vastly more resources than the Resistance. The competitor was no other than the First Order... and they would try to get the cloaking technologies in their hands.

“You will eventually develop it on your own... after three months perhaps. But do you have three months?”

“Perhaps. But why to lose so many lives till we develop it?” was Holdo's reply. “We might save millions.”

There was a lot of waiting while trying to land on Canto Bights spaceport. There was a queue of many spaceships before them. 

“It is the First Order” Maz Kanata explained. “There was a second spaceport operating, but they took control of it, and they use it as a base. All air and space traffic is diverted here. Just be patient.”

It was a bright and sunny day in Canto Bight. Amilyn could see the huge and ugly buildings of the city. Hotels, casinos, conference centers... They all looked beautiful at night when you could only see the lights. But during the day... not so much.

“Everybody knows the First Order has a presence on this planet but nobody discusses it openly. They only operate the spaceport at night just to give a paper-thin-disguise to their secret.”

Dammit! How had Poe sent two people there to operate on that First Order hornet's nest? On the other hand, how could he know? None in the Resistance had a clue about the First Order on Canto Bight. She could not blame him ... not that she blamed him for anything anymore. 

After a long wait, the spaceship landed on the spaceport. Amilyn Holdo got out holding a small suitcase. Her purple dress and her pistol were in it. Her backup pistol was concealed under the dress she wore. 

“May the Force be with you Admiral!” Amilyn saluted Maz Kanata and started walking towards the spaceport exit. 

 

“Ready to jump buddy?” Finn asked.

“I was born ready Finn!” Poe Dameron replied. Rey smiled. He looked at her and then back at Finn. They both seemed different from before. As if they had... slept together?

“Good for you buddy. As for myself, I have a soft spot for Admirals”, he murmured low enough for nobody to hear him. Vice Admiral Holdo was certainly a gorgeous woman. Would that interfere with his plan? No. He was going to make his move only after they had resolved their differences.

The idea of flirting Amilyn Holdo was stressful to Poe. He had butterflies in his stomach, something it hadn't occurred him for years. “I think I am falling for you Admiral!” He smiled. “And the best part? I really like the idea!”

 

“A room please”, the tall blond woman in the dark blue dress said.

“For one person or more?” the hotel receptionist asked.

“Perhaps one more... if you know what I mean”, the woman replied. The receptionist gave her a knowing smile. The woman in front of him was middle-aged but certainly attractive.

She returned his smile. “And I would appreciate some discretion. Let's say the gentleman who might visit me is not my husband.”

“I fully understand your concerns Mrs...” She discreetly dropped some credits on the reception table, then some more. With well practiced moves the receptionist gathered them all.

“Trench. Sylvia Trench.”

“Enjoy the hospitality of Hotel Royale Mrs. Trench.”

 

It was night in Canto Bight when the Millennium Falcon approached the main city from land. 

“Look! There is a spacecraft taking off from their northern spaceport” Rey said.

“It is a TIE fighter. We have intelligence about the First Order taking over their northern spaceport. For secrecy, their aircraft operate only at night between ten p.m. and five a.m. They have a triple-twelve installation there” Poe replied.

“Triple-twelve?”

“Twelve TIE fighters, twelve anti-aircraft guns, and twelve missile batteries. Three sets of twelve.”

“Will they hit us?” Finn asked. 

“Only if we get close. But we won't. Ready for our destination?”

“Yes. Are your uniform and your parachute ready?”

“They are. Let's do it.”

 

Wearing a black full body uniform, Poe Dameron approached the loading dock of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie would slow the spaceship so Poe would parachute to a deserted area not far away from the city. 

While getting through his preparation moves, Poe started singing. It was from the last verse of “Thunderball”.

“His days of asking are all gone.” 

Poe stood up. Chewie had opened the loading ramp. He could see the darkness outside. 

“His fight goes on and on and on.” 

Poe was not a quitter. He would fight till the bitter end. He saluted Finn and Rey. They would have to try to convince Luke Skywalker... again. 

“But he thinks that the fight is worth it all” 

There was so much at stake... and no, Leia Organa was not up to the task. Another leader should step up... and he had one person in mind.

“So he strikes like...”

Poe stood at the edge of the ramp. He was ready to jump.

“...THUNDERBALL!”

Commander Poe Dameron — demotions be damned — jumped from the Millennium Falcon into the darkness.

 

Poe hadn't performed a parachute jump in years and never for operational reasons. All of his jumps had been training sessions. Nevertheless, he successfully maneuvered his parachute in a field outside the city and landed safely without harm. 

A few minutes later Poe had gathered the parachute and placed it in its backpack. He also removed his black uniform that covered all of his body, his parachutist googles, and his full face mask. He tossed everything in a nearby ditch and started walking towards the city. He would be in his destination in a little more than an hour, ready for the next part of his mission.

The second part of Poe's mission was to enter Hotel Royale, enter its casino, the famous Casino Royale, and approach “Sylvia Trench”. To do so he needed the right clothes. But he was prepared. Under the parachutist uniform, Commander Dameron wore... a tuxedo! Just like the legendary 007 would.

 

It had been a busy day for Amilyn Holdo. She had spent a lot of time in the casino trying to shadow both the slicer and the arms merchant. But she couldn't approach any of them. She could see men in tuxedos around them all the time. The men's mannerisms, haircuts, and upright positions clearly indicated they were soldiers. The First Order had already made its move. 

In any case, Amilyn stayed in the casino and played some card games. She had good observation skills, she could keep a clear head, and she could make a lot of mental calculations in a short amount of time. She could make a profit, not enough to make her rich of course, but enough to pay for her expenses in Canto Bight. 

There was another reason Amilyn had to stay in the casino, the most important of all. She had a meeting to attend, a meeting with a man she had come to respect and care so much about. The thought made her feel extremely uncomfortable. As if there were butterflies in her stomach. She wondered whether Poe felt the same.

 

There are men who are uncomfortable in a new place. There are others who behave as if they belong. And finally there are others, like the legendary 007 who just act as if they own the place. They move with confidence and calmness. 

One such man just entered Casino Royale. He was of medium height but that didn't matter. He radiated confidence men two heads taller than him couldn't. He wore a white tuxedo with a red flower on it. He was certainly good-looking as Amilyn Holdo could observe. And this time he didn't hold a blaster trying to learn the secret evacuation plan of the Resistance, a plan Holdo had realized she should have shared with everyone. 

The man in the tuxedo looked at her. His heart almost stopped. So did hers. The butterflies in her stomach had just multiplied... and so had his. Poe Dameron and Amilyn Holdo approached each other but their steps were awkward and mechanical and their facial expressions a mix of embarrassment and shame. 

 

Despite his confidence, Poe Dameron could not speak. He was only two meters away from the Vice Admiral having rehearsed what he was about to say for more than a hundred times... but no words could leave his mouth. He could only observe the embarrassment and shame on her face. 

On the other hand, you don't become a pilot if you don't have nerves of steel. And although he felt as stressed as when he had attacked the Starkiller Base, Poe Dameron cleared his thought and looked at Amilyn Holdo in the eyes.

“Good evening Mrs...”

“Trench. Sylvia Trench. Good evening Mr...”

“Bond. James Bond.”

“Would you like to join me for a drink Mrs. Trench?” he asked with a smile.

Amilyn Holdo returned his smile. It was the first time she had smiled for him and it was so beautiful.

“I would be delighted Mr. Bond.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, Eunice Grayson, the actress playing Sylvia Trench, the first Bond Girl, passed away a few days after I started writing this story.
> 
> I decided to give Amilyn Holdo the code name of Sylvia Trench, as a tribute to the memory of Eunice Grayson.


	5. The path to forgiveness passes though responsibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe Dameron and Amilyn Holdo discuss what happened on board Raddus. Both are ready to apologize and recognise their mistakes, openly and without hesitation.
> 
> Meanwhile, Armitage Hux assesses the situation for the First order, his future with the new Supreme Leader and his plans to make the First Order more powerful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to mention here that neither Poe nor Amilyn are going to scream or be rude. They will behave like civillised adults.
> 
> I had it with that movie (TLJ) where everyone had to behave like a child (with the honorable exception of Chewie) ! This is my attempt to address some of that childish behavior.

At Holdo's suggestion, they went to a bar restaurant inside the casino area. They sat on a small square table facing each other. They both ordered dinner and a bottle of white wine.

The slicer and the arms merchant were both there, sitting on different tables. Poe could observe both men were surrounded by men in tuxedos. More such men were sitting on tables around them. First Order agents! 

Poe looked at the Vice Admiral. He could see the uneasiness in her face, the hesitation to make eye contact with him, the lowering of her head in shame. He could see she was suffering. He could understand her because he felt exactly the same. 

A few minutes passed like that. Both of them were too hesitant to make the first move. He looked at her, she looked at him but that was it. Both lowered their eyes again. So many rehearsals, yet none of them could find the courage to speak. 

Finally, both of them looked at each other. And this time they maintained eye contact. This time they would talk. 

“We really have a lot to discuss, don't we?” Amilyn asked.

“We certainly do”, Dameron replied. “For starters, I am extremely grateful to you for saving my life. I wouldn't be here if not for you Admiral” he said. He smiled and this time he saw Holdo returning the smile and becoming more relaxed. 

“Thank you for that. I am as grateful as you are for saving me Commander... yes I said Commander and not Captain” she said with a smile. “Now, since you saved my life, you may call me as you wish. Amilyn, Admiral, my code name Sylvia Trench, whatever.”

“OK Amilyn. Just call me Poe. You have earned it yourself after all.” They had become more comfortable. Good, both of them thought.

“Poe, I was rude, sarcastic, and insulting towards you. I know I could use the excuse I was under pressure, I was tired, I was busy etc but the fact remains. I was absolutely wrong to talk to you like that. Calling you a flyboy? What was I thinking? That a war hero who commanded two squadrons of starfighters against Starkiller base is to be insulted like that?”

“I am so terribly sorry. Attacking you about your demotion in public, without even knowing why it had happened was such a low point for me! I regretted it ... but I never found the time or the courage to apologize.”

He could see Amilyn breathing heavily. He could see the tears in her eyes. He could understand she really had regretted everything. She had made mistakes, and she wanted to correct them, just as he wanted.

Poe could forgive honest mistakes provided the person who did them acknowledged them, apologized for them, and corrected them. In fairness, he hadn't been better himself. He had said and done quite a lot of silly things.

“I am not better myself Amilyn. I essentially embarrassed you in front of the entire Resistance. I understand why you were upset with me. I was rude myself and I failed to understand the pressure you had to face. And calling you a traitor? You, who wanted to end your life to save us all? How could I fall so low?”

“I could have used excuses myself. That you didn't set the right example, that I was still bitter about a demotion about an order I still believe I was right to disobey. But my demotion was not your fault. Leia Organa demoted me, not you.”

“Poe, I think we can forgive each other about what we said. What do you think?”

“Yes, Amilyn I forgive you for what you said about me. I understand you didn't mean it. Amilyn, will you forgive me about my words?”

“That I can and that I do, Poe, free and full and without let or hindrance.”

“Everything is all right then Amilyn.” She smiled and for once more Poe could not ignore the fact she was a gorgeous woman.

A waiter came carrying their dinner and a bottle of wine. He opened the bottle and poured wine in two glasses.

“Cheers Amilyn. Once more, I own my life to you.”

“Cheers Poe. Thank you for saving my life.” They both were more relaxed now.

“The second part of the discussion will be harder” Poe said. “It will not be about words said but about actions made. That... mutiny above all...” He lowered his head in shame.

Amilyn Holdo gently touched his hand with hers. “It is OK Poe. We shall discuss it all till we find a solution.” He liked her touching his hand. Perhaps she was fond of him as well. He looked at her. She was so beautiful. She was shining like the morning sun. He could also feel the tears on his cheeks.

“Don't worry. We shall find a solution” she said offering him a handkerchief.

 

On board Supremacy, the flagship of the First Order one man was furious. That man was General Armitage Hux. 

Everything had gone wrong during the past days. For starters, the First Order had failed to destroy the Resistance, despite having assembled an entire armada of capital ships to achieve that.

Hux could have ordered his starfighters to attack the small Resistance fleet at any time. Or he could have ordered one or two of the thirty capital ships accompanying Supremacy to perform a hyperspace jump and cut the Resistance retreat off. 

He hadn't done so though. Perhaps having so many capital ships had been a mistake because he had to micromanage them all. Those capital ship commanding officers! They could not take an ounce of initiative themselves. How could he plan even a simple attack when he spent all of his time managing his own capital ships on the battle map?

Hux looked at the woman in front of him. She was Captain Phasma, badly burned and with broken bones all over her body, the result of a duel with a former First Order trooper and her fall from a twenty-meter-high platform to a burning floor. Her entire body was bandaged and she was currently unconscious.

He had to admit the Resistance were tough fighters. They had managed to destroy the Starkiller base, and they had found someone among them brave enough to ram their last cruiser against Supremacy. 

The ramming attack had caused heavy casualties to the First Order. About a hundred thousand people on board Supremacy were killed in action. Two First Order capital ships had been wrecked, five more had serious damages and five more light ones. In addition, hundreds of small craft were gone. In all, three hundred thousand First Order personnel had lost their lives in the attack. 

Despite that setback, the First Order was winning the war. Their plan to infiltrate Canto Bight and obtain as much military technology as possible was working. They had a big prize waiting for them: a stealth system that could cloak their capital ships from radar observation. 

The First Order could combine the stealth system with their hyperspace tracking technology. They would use it to locate enemy capital ships, make fast and deadly attacks, and then disappear. They would have a force multiplier that would increase their destructiveness five to ten times, making the loss of Starkiller base and the ramming attack insignificant footnotes in history.

A young lieutenant approached Hux, stood in attention and said: “The Supreme Leader would like to see you General.”

“On my way”, Hux replied. 

Kylo Ren had become Supreme Leader after Snoke died, cut in half by a lightsaber. According to Ren, that young woman Rey had done it. Hux hadn't bought it for a second. Rey, alone and unarmed, faced with Snoke, Ren, and eight bodyguards had managed to free herself, arm herself with a lightsaber, kill Snoke and all the bodyguards, spare Kylo Ren and escape? How convenient... for Kylo Ren!

In Hux's opinion, Kylo had used Rey as a distraction, killed Snoke, and used Rey to help him dispatch the bodyguards. Then he tried to kill Rey to leave no eye witnesses. However, the Resistance ramming attack allowed Rey to escape, so he framed her for the murders. Who was going to believe her anyway?

His thoughts returned to the ramming attack and the Starkiller base. According to intelligence, the person who had led the attack against Starkiller had been Resistance officer Poe Dameron and the person piloting the Resistance cruiser that rammed them had been a senior Resistance officer named Amilyn Holdo. 

Hux didn't know whether Dameron or Holdo were still alive. Just to be sure, he had sent an order to all First Order agents in all planets to kill them if they found them ... without having to ask for anyone's permission. 

 

“So I think all started with my demotion”, Poe said.

“I am listening”, she replied.

While evacuating the D'qar base, First Order capital ships appeared. Among them there was a dreadnought, a “fleet-killer” as some people described it. Two or three shots could heavily damage a fleet of capital ships. Its main guns could also penetrate energy shields, destroying entire ground bases with two or three shots. 

The First Order were ruthless. They had blown up the Hosnian System killing billions just a few days earlier. For Dameron, it was obvious they would use the dreadnought many times in the future destroying the Resistance allies fleets and bases left and right. They had no other means to do that, since the Starkiller base no longer existed.

“So when I saw the dreadnought, I made a quick calculation between the lives of the Resistance bombers we would lose... and the lives of our allies we would save. I chose to attack against orders. I know how it sounds... ” Amilyn could see he was so sad... but she could see he had a point, and a good one.

“Please, go on.”

“I was not a reckless flyboy, you know.”

“I believe you Poe. I know about Leia sending you alone on Jakku and the Starkiller base attack. Only someone with skill and maturity would be trusted in both occasions. Once more, I am sorry for considering you a flyboy.”

“I believe we saved thousands of lives of our allies for each one of us lost in that attack. I know it sounds cynical to make such calculations...”

“It was the right choice to attack Poe.” Amilyn said. 

Leia hadn't seen it that way. When Poe returned to Raddus, she slapped him on the face and demoted him for disobedience, and focusing on the deaths of Resistance members in the attack... but never on the potential deaths of Resistance allies. That had made Poe bitter. Not only had Leia Organa failed to see the big picture despite being a General but also she had refused to even listen to his version of events.

“Besides, she could have stopped the attack. She ordered me to withdraw using the radio. I didn't. Then she just looked from the window instead of using the same radio to directly order the bombers back. Leia outranked me. She had the authority to bypass me, yet she didn't. Why?”

“Well Poe, let me tell you a story. It explains both your question and why I made the silly mistake of not sharing my evacuation plans with you.”

 

After the end of the Galactic Civil War, the Rebel Alliance was in charge of the Galaxy. It was time to restore the Republic.

The Old Republic had been plagued by serious problems. Such problems had existed for centuries before Palpatine seized control and replaced the Republic with the Empire.

Even after Palpatine's death and the destruction of the Empire, the old problems remained. Corruption, partisanship, turf wars, and putting personal interest above public good. 

When the Galactic Civil War ended, Amilyn Holdo was a decorated war veteran. She had served as a gunner on board a Rebel Alliance cruiser. She had taken part in the battle of Endor, where she had shot down six Imperial TIE fighters. 

Leia Organa was a good friend of Holdo and convinced her to become her aide. Being a war hero herself and being the sister of legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker helped her election in the New Galactic Senate. That was when problems started. 

As Amilyn could observe, Leia and other young and idealistic politicians were compromising all the time. They drew red lines... and then crossed them again and again. Granted, you cannot always win and you need to compromise sometimes. But they did it so often, and they retreated so much that in the end there was nothing left to fight for. 

The worst part was't compromising though. The worst part was how easily the young and idealistic new generation became just like the corrupted old guard. Turf wars, politicizing even the most trivial of things, endless bickering... the list was enormous. But the worst part was lack of accountability.

“It is a death sentence for a politician to admit errors”, Amilyn said. “Most of them don't have the character to admit them. The others are too afraid to do so. Their opponents will eat them alive.”

“Well, one of the reasons I resigned the Republic Navy was that”, Poe said. “The Admirals and the Generals were too busy accusing their subordinates and one another for everything wrong. Please go on.”

Leia Organa was no exception to that rule. She was dynamic as a character but also rude and very stubborn. Stubbornness and lack of accountability do not make you responsible. Amilyn had to constantly remind Leia she had to apologize for her mistakes and her rudeness. Leia usually didn't and considered Amilyn naive despite her good intentions.

Amilyn still loved Leia as a friend and believed in her. But her inability to admit error was something she always hated. It was also why Holdo herself hadn't tried to become a Senator. She would constantly admit error and her opponents would constantly attack her for that. 

One day a big secret was revealed: Darth Vader was Leia's biological father. It was a scandal her political opponents exploited. Leia Organa was forced to resign the Senate. 

“To be honest, Leia did not accomplish that much as a Senator”, Amilyn mentioned. “She compromised all the time in exchange for measures against the First Order, measures that never came. And let's say she never accused herself for her failure”, Amilyn added.

“Maybe she finally agreed with the attack against the dreadnought ... but she didn't want to admit she had made the wrong decision the first time. So she punished me but not so hard. Could it be Amilyn?” Amilyn nodded in agreement. 

After her political career was over, Leia founded the Resistance, a paramilitary organization that focused on fighting against the First Order. Amilyn Holdo joined her. So did some senior Army and Navy officers like Ackbar. 

Unfortunately, both former politicians and former army officers who led the Resistance had carried the old mentality with them. Two things were the worst: the first one was lack of personal responsibility and the second one was a lack of trust that led to secretiveness. 

“Is that why you didn't share your plans?”

“Partly yes. But there is much more than that Poe.”

About a year before the First Order blew up the Hosnian System, the Resistance realized something interesting. The First Order ships seemed to be everywhere the Resistance went. Either they had too many capital ships or... 

“It was as if they had three times the spaceships the old Empire had. Impossible! Granted, we knew they were more powerful as most people thought. But they still had much less space, much less resources, much less capital than the Empire ever had. And of course they had to operate in secret, which meant they had to pay extra for many things.”

“I don't remember Leia telling me anything about that”, Poe said. 

“The secretiveness thing. I had access to that information because I was a senior officer. So if they couldn't have that many spaceships how did they appear everywhere?”

“They were tracking us”, Poe said. “They had hyperspace tracking technology. They were testing it on us." Amilyn looked at him straight in the eyes. 

“Let's assume for the moment they didn't have that technology back then. After all, we only discovered its existence a few days ago. Let us now assume you are a senior leader, fresh from the toxic environment of the New Republic politics. What do you assume Poe?”

Commander Dameron thought of it a little.

“OK. The toxic environment makes us assume the worst in people, so we assume we have bad people in the organization... that have betrayed us!” Amilyn gestured him to go on.

“So they were tracking us because they had spies among us ... or, so we thought. That was why you were so reluctant to share your plans.”

“Half the reason Poe. It was still a bad idea not to share information. It demoralized you all, it made you think I didn't know what was going on, and it made me look like a snobbish bitch. If spies existed, they could have killed me and then the plan would have been lost for everyone.” 

“That dress of yours didn't help. You really looked like a...”

“... a snobbish bitch out of touch. Well, I am not but I certainly looked the part with purple hair and heavy make up as if I was going to a gala dinner. I was unprofessional.”

“But were very good-looking!” Poe said with a smile. Amilyn Holdo burst into laughter. She hadn't expected the compliment.

“Thanks. Now back to our discussion.”

The discussion shifted to Holdo's introductory speech. Once more Poe apologized for his rudeness. He admitted he was not only rude but also disrespectful, and he made the impression he undermined her authority, something unacceptable. Once more, Holdo accepted his apology.

“Now the second reason I didn't say about the plan was...” The Vice Admiral paused to let Poe complete her sentence.

“...there wasn't any. Or if there was the other senior leaders hadn't told you.”

“Perhaps I should admit it. But I was afraid it would be demoralizing. Perhaps, I should have said there is a plan and you would be informed in due time. I admit it was a silly mistake I did.”

“Well to be honest, I did the same mistake myself.”

Poe went on and analyzed his plan. He would send two people in Canto Bight to find a slicer — the same one he and Holdo were shadowing — and then they would take him on board the First Order flagship. Once there, they would break into the hyperspace tracker room and disable the device. 

“You made two serious mistakes there Poe”, the Vice Admiral said.

“I know the first one was not informing you. I believed you were not in listening mode. And yes you had given me the impression you were a snobbish bitch. I know I was wrong though...” he added with a worried expression. Holdo just moved her hand in a calming gesture.

“Actually, it was not a bad plan Poe. It was a suicide mission but it only involved two people and if succeeded we would survive without losing our biggest cruiser. If you had told me, I would have started trusting and respecting you much earlier.”

“I agree. And it would have helped dispel that spy theory. What was my second mistake Amilyn?"

“Rose Tico. I understand why you put Finn on it. He is a First Order defector, so he knows how they behave. But Rose? Rose is not the field agent type. She is smart, she is so good as an engineer she could rebuild Raddus using glue and matchsticks, but she is very shy in social settings.”

“I suppose I should tell you and ask permission to go with Finn. Perhaps I could fit, even without a tuxedo.”

“You would fit like a glove Poe”, she said with a smile. “It is the man who makes the clothes not the clothes that make the man.”

“Thanks Amilyn. Now comes the really hard part.”

“I never took the mutiny personally Poe. But let's talk about it. We need to get everything out in the open.”

 

The meeting with Kylo Ren had gone much better than Armitage Hux expected. Kylo Ren had been polite and respectful. He even had apologized for trying to Force choke him a few days ago when Hux had discovered Ren among the corpses of Snoke and his bodyguards.

Hux still believed it had been Ren who had killed Snoke. But he had no way to prove it and besides Ren had just given him more authority to run the First Order army. In exchange Hux was expected to fully recognize and fully obey Kylo Ren. It was a compromise but a good one.

Kylo Ren was satisfied with Hux's plan to gather as much military technology as possible and gave him a free hand in how to do it. He also agreed with the assassination order against Dameron and Holdo, although he expressed some reservations for the latter.

Armitage Hux knew Kylo Ren had once been Ben Solo, his mother was Leia Organa and Amilyn Holdo Leia's best friend. Holdo had probably babysitted him hundreds of times while his mother made futile attempts to convince the Senate about the First Order threat. He probably felt some hesitation about letting her die. 

The news from the Canto Bight operation were promising. The arms merchant had the technology they wanted, but he hesitated to sell. They had improved their offer but he still hesitated. Hux decided to go for Plan B. 

“Hire the slicer, break into the arm merchant's villa, get the plans, kill the merchant... and bring the plans to me ASAP.” was the message he sent using a holoprojector.

 

“Listen Poe. The mutiny was mostly my fault.”

“But I did it, not you. I pulled my blaster against you and...”

“You did. But you had good intentions. And after it all ended Leia and I checked every blaster you and your associates used. All of them were in stun mode. You were never going to harm anyone.”

“I just wanted to find about our plan of action. I never wanted to harm or replace you”, Poe said.

“I understand. Once more, I didn't take it personally. I was shocked of course but do you know what really shocked me?”

“What Amilyn?”

“You had associates. It was not only you who had problems with me. And when you mutinied, almost nobody tried to help me although as acting head of the Resistance everyone had the obligation to do so. Nobody respected me Poe. Nobody.”

“And when the mutiny ended, Leia told you about our plan and you agreed with it! In other words, your mutiny was a success Poe! You wanted to find about the plan and you did! If only I had told you myself!”

“I was a jerk, so I didn't really help you open up, did I?”

“We both were jerks Poe. And as the senior officer I was the biggest of the two of us.”

“You were also the one under the most pressure. You had no other senior officer to help you. You had to make a plan and execute it. You...”

“Yes, I had excuses. But I still failed as a leader. That is why...”

“You wanted to sacrifice yourself to save us all?”

“Yes Poe. It was both commitment to the Resistance and guilt. I wanted to punish myself for my mistakes. It was also because I finally started respecting you. I realized you would not stop doing what you consider right. You would fight against the First Order, against orders you considered wrong, against every obstacle. With an officer like you, Leia didn't need me, so I could end my life without harming the Resistance.”

“I still have made so many mistakes. Like when I told our plan to Rose and Finn.”

“That was a stupid mistake. But Leia had just told you our transports had been cloaked. Yet, the First Order found them within seconds. So who is to blame? The Captain who believed the mistake of the Vice Admiral or the Vice Admiral who made the mistake in the first place?”

“Both, I would say. I promised myself never to accuse someone else for my mistakes. And you know what? I had a bigger ego back then. I believe our misunderstanding was to a great extent my fault.”

“I know Poe. But I believe I can forgive you for everything you said and did. You made mistakes, but they were honest ones and none of them was bigger than the ones I made myself.”

“I already have forgiven you Amilyn. And once more, thank you for saving my life.”

“You did the same for me. And I have forgiven you myself Poe.”

“All is right then.” Both smiled at each other.

 

A waiter came bringing them desserts and a second bottle of wine. They had drunk the first one without even realizing it. 

“Now Poe”, Amilyn said. “When you left me that letter on Raddus, you didn't just want to meet me and apologize.”

“It is true there were more reasons. I believe you are brave, you can take the blame for your mistakes, and you can be a great leader.”

“So what is the plan Poe?”

“Replacing Leia Organa as head of the Resistance and reorganizing it in a more decentralized way.”

“And you want me to help you oust Leia and take control yourself?”

“No Amilyn. I don't want to succeed Leia.” Holdo looked him deeply in the eyes.

“You want me to succeed Leia.”

“Yes Amilyn. You are the leader the Resistance deserves!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is hard to look someone in the eyes and apologise. But it is also the only way. Both Amilyn and Poe realized that and did so.
> 
> We should not be surprised when people have a misunderstanding. It has happened to everyone. But only a true adult realizes it, apologizes for it and then learns from his/her mistakes ... like the two Resistance officers did.


	6. The feel of your eyes on me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Rey reach Alch-To and get ready to meet Luke Skywalker.
> 
> Meanwhile, Poe Dameron talks to Amilyn about his plans for a new Resistance. 
> 
> However, Poe and Amilyn have additional plans ... of a more personal nature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous chapter was somehow heavy. So many difficult topics to discuss, so many things to apologise for...
> 
> This chapter is a bit of a breather. It is much more light-hearted and about 3-4 times smaller. Enjoy!
> 
> The chapter title if from the theme song lyrics of "Never Say Never Again", a James Bond film. It clearly captures the meaning some persons' feelings.

On board Millennium Falcon, Chewie growled. Rey and Finn stood up.

“Chewie said we reached Alch-To. Time to disembark", Rey said.

“It will be an honor meeting the legendary Jedi Master”, Finn said. Chewie growled and hugged Finn.

“He likes what you said Finn”, Rey said. “Luke Skywalker and Chewie are longtime friends.” Then Chewie patted Finn on the back.

“I think Chewie is congratulating you for something you recently did ”. Finn had a proud smile on his face.

“I think he means when you and I were naked and...” Rey cut him short.

“Yes Finn, this is what Chewie meant! Now let's meet Skywalker. Move lover!” 

 

Poe Dameron spent the next hours outlining his plan. In essence, his plan called for dispersing the Resistance into smaller groups and then sending each group to another planet. Each group would act independently of each other. They would only work together in order to attack a high value target such a dreadnought or a spaceship carrying senior First Order officers.

“I understand we put too much power and initiative to junior officers”, Dameron said. “But we can train them and besides...”

“...they will grow as officers and leaders faster”, Holdo said. “Then when the Resistance grows in numbers, they will be ready to easily lead more people without serious effort.”

“Exactly! You complete my thoughts Amilyn”, he said with a big smile. She smiled back. They seemed to have so many things in common. James Bond, the fact they thought like a team, the butterflies in their stomachs...

“As a senior officer, I am better in coordinating distinct groups of people. And you are better in organizing small groups. So together...”

“... we can create a new Resistance!” They both smiled. 

“And Leia doesn't have to go or lose her position as Head of the Resistance”, Poe said.

“Leia will just withdraw from military planning and operations and focus on diplomacy and gathering financial support. She will still be our leader.” Holdo completed his thoughts again.

 

The slicer and the arms merchant had just left the restaurant, so Amilyn suggested calling it a day. They stood up, paid the bill, and started walking towards the hotel reception. 

Maybe it had been their conversation. Maybe it had been the fact Amilyn Holdo was a really gorgeous woman. Maybe it had been the fact Poe Dameron was a really handsome man.

She looked him in the eyes. He had that look again, that look he had on Raddus bridge when he had touched her arms with his hands ... 

“We could have solved our misunderstanding on board Raddus”, he said. “We could have spent a few minutes in the conference room together and talk.”

“It could have worked ... in theory”, Amilyn replied. “But we both know it wouldn't. I saw your eyes Poe. I can tell when a man admires and when a man desires. And you ... had that fire!”

“That is why I was so hesitant to suggest a meeting Amilyn. I would be very tempted to make my move." He looked down the floor then back to her eyes. “But you outranked me and still do. You could have ordered me to stop, screamed, have me arrested...”

“Yes, I could have done at least one of those things if you tried to kiss me.” Both had approached each other. They were now close, only inches apart. Too close.

“But let me ask you one thing Poe”, she said.

“What is it Amilyn?” Her lips were only two inches apart from his.

“What makes you think I would?” 

They kissed each other with passion and desire like there was no tomorrow. His hands gently moved behind her back, touching her long and elegant neck. Her long fingers gently touched his neck and then his hair, then his neck again gently massaging it. Twenty minutes passed for their kisses to stop. She looked at him with a seductive smile. He did the same.

“Oh my goodness Mrs. Trench! I haven't booked a room!” Poe said with a very suggestive smile.

“You are so lucky Mr. Bond”, Vice Admiral Holdo replied with an equally suggestive look. “I have extra space in mine!” They went to the hotel reception holding hands.

The receptionist was the same one Holdo had met to book a room earlier during the day. It was his night shift period.

“Trench. Sylvia Trench. My key please.”

“Here you go Mrs. Trench. Did you have a pleasant stay so far?”

“Well, I think I did, right James?”, she said kissing Poe's neck. The receptionist didn't have to be a Force user to guess what was going to follow. 

He had the tuxedo, he had kissed the Bond girl but there was something missing for the huge James Bond fan. He turned to the receptionist.

“A bottle of champagne in the lady's room please”, Poe said holding Amilyn from the waist while she kissed his neck and massaged his shoulders. “Do you have Dom Perignon?”

“Of course sir”, the receptionist said nodding to Poe with the universal nod men have used for ages to express their admiration for another man's successful seduction of a woman. Poe nodded back with a knowing half-smile.

“Are you trying to get me drunk James?” Amilyn said in mock protest.

“Only a little bit honey”, Poe replied with a confident smile. 

 

They reached her room, constantly kissing each other along the way. She opened the door, and they both entered while their kisses increased in intensity. 

Soon a member of the hotel stuff came to bring their champagne in a cold ice bucket. Poe Dameron poured two glasses with the precious drink and offered one to Amilyn.

The tuxedo, the gadgets, the champagne, and of course the gorgeous Vice Admiral ... 

“You would be proud of me 007”, he said while Amilyn was constantly kissing his neck, his forehead, and his lips. He kissed her in the lips and started undressing her.

“Oh James!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Poe you really made 007 proud! 
> 
> Enjoy the hospitality of "Mrs. Trench"! 
> 
> And have a drink for us please!


	7. Pay the price ... you only live twice!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Amilyn get closer on an emotional level. At the same time they use their knowledge of James Bond films to device a plan to steal the plans they need. 
> 
> Meanwhile, a First Order officer makes an interesting discovery and Leia Organa realizes Poe Dameron has cornered her. 
> 
> And last but not least ... Poe Dameron drives an Aston Martin (007's most iconic car) !

Poe Dameron woke up when the rays of the morning sun touched his face. Only a blanket covered his naked body. He checked the part of the bed where Amilyn had slept next to him. She had woken up before him and was sitting in front of a mirror combing her long hair.

“You only live twice or so it seems! One life for yourself and one for your dreams!" Amilyn Holdo was singing her favorite song. It was the main theme song from "You Only Live Twice", a James Bond film. She had a lovely voice as Poe could observe. As a huge 007 fan himself, he knew the song by heart. 

“You drift through the years and life seems tame! Then one dream appears and love is its name!” Commander Dameron smiled. It was so fitting. His personal life had taken a back seat all those years. The Resistance always came and would always come first. And then Amilyn appeared...

The dream had appeared... and love was indeed its name. What would he do with Amilyn? She was his boss, and she was two decades older than him. Was she into younger men? Was he really into older women? Was there a future between them? 

Poe suddenly realized he never had made such thoughts for a woman before. What would he do? He had butterflies in his stomach ... again!

“And love is a stranger who beckons you on! Don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone!” Poe Dameron smiled. The solution was there for him to see. Stop worrying Commander! Love asks you to move closer. Go where love says and no worries.

“This dream is for you so pay the price! Make one dream come true, you only live twice!” Well, Poe thought. If you were brave enough to blow up Starkiller base, starting a relationship with Amilyn Holdo will not be so hard. Besides, ... she won't shoot anymore. You have reconciled your differences.

Poe Dameron approached the Vice Admiral. She had stopped singing and turned around the moment she heard his footsteps approaching. She stood up and looked at him. She wore no make up, and he could see the wrinkles on her face. For some reason though, having wrinkles actually made her face more beautiful than ever. And she was smiling!

“Good morning Commander”, she said and gently kissed him on the lips. “And I know what you are thinking so ... yes I want to continue with you. We only live twice after all!”

He kissed her back. They kept kissing each other for a few minutes. This time their kisses were soft and gentle. 

 

Part one of Dameron's plan had been to save Holdo. Part two was finding an excuse to meet her, make amends with her and share his vision for a new Resistance.

Poe had learned his lesson after a demotion and problems with two senior officers. He was not going to directly confront Leia. Part three of his plan was to gradually inform everyone in the Resistance about his point of view. He would state that the bomber squadron did a meaningful job when it blew up that dreadnought. Had they not done so, that First Order spaceship would roam the Galaxy and kill who knows how many people.

In addition, Poe would try to emphasize how bad the mutiny was and how both sides had misunderstood each other. He also tried to mention that changes should be made to the Resistance. More transparency should be a necessity from now on. Every leader should be obliged to correctly and adequately inform his or her subordinates to avoid loss of morale and to ensure the subordinates contributed with their own ideas to the overall mission.

Since Poe was absent, the task to inform and convince the rest of the Resistance fell to three people: Rose Tico who both been a former member of Ninka and had been to Canto Bight with Finn, the lieutenant Dameron had befriended on board the transport to Crait, and Major Boothroyd who deeply respected Poe. Out of the three, the most capable was Boothroyd who used his status as a former member of Special Forces to ensure everybody paid attention. And everybody did ... including Leia Organa herself.

Leia Organa could understand Poe's plans. He made an indirect attack against her. If she tried to stop the Resistance from talking about the events of the past, its members would think she had something to hide. If she tried to tell her version of events, everyone would ask why hadn't she allowed Dameron to attack the dreadnought and then demoted him for doing so.

Leia Organa could understand Dameron had a point ... and a good one. Perhaps she had made a mistake not allowing him to attack that bomber. He had a point: the lives potentially saved were thousands of times more than the ones lost. But admitting a mistake was something Leia Organa never would ... No, Leia Organa was the typical old school leader who believed that admitting error was a sign of weakness.

 

Poe Dameron took a quick shower, got dressed, and was ready for action. The gorgeous Vice Admiral was waiting for him. After a quick kiss, they sat down to plan their next moves.

“You know”, Amilyn said, “it is impossible to steal the plans. They surround both the slicer and the arms merchant."

“I agree. Even if we manage to somehow bypass the dozens of First Order troops surrounding them, we won't manage to escape with the plans. I know we cannot transmit them from a distance. We have to carry them. And they will be hunting for us.”

“We won't be able to hide for long because they practically own the local police. We won't be able to fly away because they have an entire base full of star-fighters. I can only think of one alternative idea.”

“So can I”, Poe replied. He looked at her. Amilyn smiled.

“OK, OK. I won't make the mistake I did in Raddus refusing to share my plans. Have you seen “From Russia with Love” Poe?”

“Of course! One of my favorite 007 films. We think the same Amilyn!”

In the movie “From Russia with Love” SPECTRE, an international crime syndicate, convinced Bond's employers there was a way to steal a Soviet encoding device. 007's employers took the bait and sent him in a mission to do so. SPECTRE's plan was basically to wait for James Bond to steal the device, then kill him and take the device for themselves.

“So we let them get the plans, then we steal them for ourselves”, Poe said. “OK, there is only one place we can do that.”

“Right. We need to check their spaceport. They keep it closed during the day, and they don't let anyone get close. But we can have a good look around.”

“We just need to rent a car. And since everyone here drives flashy cars, let's get a flashy one”, Amilyn said.

“I know Mrs. Trench! I know!”, Poe said, a grin on his face.

 

The two Resistance officers passed through the main hall and entered the casino area. The slicer and the arms merchant were in their usual places. 

Poe and Amilyn spent about one hour observing them. Poe used his card playing skills and soon managed to win a respectable sum of money. He was as skilled as Holdo but a bit more aggressive. He won bigger but also lost bigger.

After one hour passed, they decided it was not worth it, so they went for the initial plan. Poe approached the hotel reception, paid for the champagne he had ordered the previous night, and asked where he could rent a vehicle. The receptionist replied Hotel Royale had an agreement with a car rental agency and showed him a data-pad with the available vehicles. One of the vehicles stood out.

“OK Mrs. Trench, I have found us a vehicle!”

 

There was a young man in a tuxedo standing a few meters away from Poe and Amilyn. He was busy reading something on his data-pad. His eyes moved from his data-pad to the two Resistance officers and back to his data-pad.

General Hux had given orders to all field troopers and agents for the elimination of Dameron and Holdo without the need of further authorization. However, the order had led to assassinations of innocent people who just looked like the two Resistance officers. For that reason the order was quietly neglected. Besides, most agents already had a lot of other things to do.

The young First Order agent in the tuxedo hesitated. He checked his data-pad one more time. The two people really looked like Holdo and Dameron. But he had called her Sylvia Trench, and she had called him James Bond. And they just wanted to rent a car. 

Maybe it was nothing, maybe it was something. In any case, he decided to inform his superiors. 

 

“So here we are Mrs. Trench”, Poe said inside a hangar where cars to be rented were. Many of them looked like vintage vehicles of older times. Others looked like vehicles of the present. Poe wondered whether the vintage cars were really from a long time ago and not just replicas, but he didn't want to spoil the illusion.

“What are we looking for Mr. Bond?” she asked.

“Trust me Sylvia, the moment you see it you will know!” 

Amilyn Holdo suddenly stopped, a huge grin on her face.

“I don't believe it! An Aston Martin DB5!” she said.

“A classic! And it is in silver-gray color!”

“The classic James Bond vehicle in its classic color!”

“Unfortunately, it has no gadgets. But look at the license plate.”

“JB 007! My goodness! James Bond 007. I want to kiss someone!”

“I volunteer” Poe said without hesitation. Amilyn started kissing him.

 

The silver-gray Aston Martin crossed the streets of Canto Bight heading for the spaceport the First Order controlled. Their plan was to make some circles around it trying to locate weak points in its perimeter and use one of them to sneak inside it. When inside, they would proceed to steal the First Order spaceship carrying the plans, escape the enemy, rejoin the Resistance and offer the plans to their allies.

In addition, there was part four of Dameron's plan. It was the part where Vice Admiral Holdo spoke with Leia Organa and demanded some explanations from her. Poe had to work that part with Amilyn … if she chose to take part in it. 

“I cannot force you to take part in my plan Amilyn. It is entirely up to you. I saved your life but you also saved mine, so you don't own me anything.”

“I am still thinking about it Poe. It is very hard for me to go against someone who has been my best friend for almost four decades. For the time being let's focus on our mission here.”

“OK. But don't underestimate yourself. You are going to become a great leader.”

 

They kept circling the spaceport from a safe distance. They could observe canvas hangars — makeshift shelters for TIE fighters — anti-aircraft and missile batteries, and armed patrols of stormtroopers around the hangars. There were also wheeled vehicles patrolling the fence that surrounded the spaceport. The security seemed airtight and there were no weak spots in the enemy perimeter. 

The only area where people were allowed in and out was the spaceport gate. Cars occasionally stopped in front of it. From a safe distance Poe and Amilyn could observe the gate sentries ask papers from the car drivers and passengers and then allow them in or out. 

More careful observation revealed most checks were routine and not so careful. Poe and Amilyn could also observe the sentries were less vigilant when the people inside the cars wore First Order uniforms. 

“It is an open secret the First Order has taken over the spaceport”, Poe said. “It only operates at night. I wonder whether security is tighter then.”

“If we dress like their officers, they will be less thorough. But we still need to find the right papers and a good excuse to get in.”

“They won't be very thorough. This is not a first line base where security is airtight. Most people down there just count the hours till they get a night pass for the casinos.”

The Commander — demotions be damned — and the Vice Admiral examined the risks their operation had. Apart from obtaining fake uniforms they had to reach the First Order spaceship where the plans were to be loaded, neutralize the stormtroopers and officers guarding them, neutralize the spaceship crew, steal the plans and the spaceship and try to get away. 

It was hard but not impossible to enter the spaceport. As Resistance officers, they already had fake First Order identities stored in their data-pads, just in case. They only needed to change some names and ranks and hope the gate sentries were not that vigilant. 

Obtaining First Order uniforms was also not that hard. There were clothes shops in Canto Bight that sold them. Poe and Amilyn could just enter one of those shops, claim they had lost their uniforms in a cards game or another silly excuse, say they didn't want to be punished for the loss, confidentially give a few extra credits for discretion and obtain what they wanted. Clothes shop owners would turn a blind eye anyway.

The biggest risks would be the moment they tried to take off from the spaceport. The twelve enemy anti-aircraft guns would fire upon them. If they survived that and got out of their range, they would enter the minimal firing range of the twelve missile batteries. A barrage of missiles would follow them. If they somehow evaded them all, the twelve TIE fighters would hunt them down. 

Poe Dameron estimated their chances of success. In theory, the moment they stole the spaceship an alarm would sound and First Order troops would man the guns within minutes. In reality though, only well-drilled units could man their anti-aircraft guns in time and then be accurate in firing them. He was almost certain they would be in the air and out of range with only a handful of their guns firing and all of them missing.

The missiles were another question. The First Order troops would launch dozens of missiles. Unfortunately, it would take a long time before the relatively slow moving transport got out of their range, enough time even for a not well-drilled unit to man the batteries and open fire. In addition, the missiles could automatically lock their target. Only evasion could help but Dameron knew even a slow transport could not evade dozens of enemy missiles. 

The biggest problem were the TIE fighters. They moved at more than twice the speed of transports and had an effective range of thousands of kilometers. They could hunt them down for hours. Their only means to fight back would be a tail gun, crewed by Holdo. She was a good gunner, but they would eventually shoot them down. 

“No, we need another plan”, Poe said.

“Our plan is in the wrong direction. We think of how to evade them.”

“What do you suggest Amilyn?”

“We should think of how to destroy them before they can act. And I have an idea for that.”

“Let me guess”, Poe said after some time. “Does your idea involve a pylon turn?”

Her sudden kiss on his lips answered his question. Yes it did.

 

The two Resistance officers returned to Canto Bight to buy uniforms. Holdo had suggested they bought long coats to wear on top of their uniforms till they were close to the airport. They didn't want to attract unnecessary attention. Dameron bought two long gray coats for both of them.

They returned to the hotel with their new clothes, parked the Aston Martin in the underground hotel garage and went straight to Holdo's room to evaluate their plan and make necessary adjustments and improvements.

“We need to blow up the two anti-aircraft guns close to the runway”, Holdo said. “They are almost always manned. They will blow up the transport the moment we steal it.”

Poe Dameron nodded in agreement and retrieved two pens from one of his tuxedo pockets.

“Have you seen “Goldeneye” Amilyn?” She gave him a soft kiss on his forehead. Goldeneye was a James Bond film where 007 used explosive pens, like the ones Dameron had.

They kept planning and analyzing till they reached the final version of the plan. 

“To sum up”, Poe said. “They steal the plans and bring them to the spaceport in a convoy of vehicles. We ...”

“... move in front of the convoy wearing our First Order uniforms” Holdo continued. “It is risky, but we count on the fact they will be in a hurry to accept the convoy, and they won't investigate us.”

“We enter the spaceport, we secretly place the exploding pens to the anti-aircraft guns and then...” They kept analyzing their plan until its final steps. 

“The final step is to contact Moneypenny to pick us up”, Poe said. Moneypenny was a code name and not a real one. It was inspired by Ms. Moneypenny, M's secretary. 

“OK”, Amilyn replied. “But who is Moneypenny?” Poe told her. Vice Admiral Holdo burst into laughter.

“Don't tell anyone, will you?” Dameron asked. He too was laughing. 

“I promise I won't”, she replied with a smile. “Now come closer 007”, she said in a whispering, seductive voice.

 

The First Order Major controlling the operation to obtain the secret plans had two problems. The first one was that the arms merchant did not want to sell them. He had made the maximum offer he was allowed to make, he had obtained permission to raise the amount a bit but the arms merchant still refused. Exhausting his options, the Major went for plan B: killing the arms merchant and stealing the plans.

The second problem came when a junior agent had come to him claiming he had seen two Resistance officers in Hotel Royale. The two officers in question were Holdo and Dameron using the names Sylvia Trench and James Bond respectively. 

The Major was quite skeptical with that information. He knew how stunningly beautiful Vice Admiral Holdo was. Most agents claiming to have seen her were just looking for an excuse to flirt a tall, blonde woman with piercing blue eyes, just like Amilyn Holdo was. It was not a coincidence more agents claimed to have seen her than Leia Organa. 

In any case, the Major didn't want to take any chances. He authorized the agent to spend some money to bribe the hotel receptionist for Trench's room number and allowed him to track her down in his off duty hours. 

The hotel receptionist immediately recognized the young man in front of him as a First Order agent. He didn't know why they wanted the information, but he did know they were ruthless, so he just took the money the agent offered and answered all questions asked.

After obtaining the information, the agent took the elevator to the room where “Sylvia Trench” was. He would wait for them to make their move.

 

It was night when Poe Dameron and Amilyn Holdo woke up. They were a bit tired after having spent hours in bed having a good time. They went in the shower together, took a bath, and started dressing with the First Order uniforms. 

After having dressed herself, Amilyn opened the small safe on the wall, retrieved Poe's wallet and his medal and gave them to him.

“Once more congratulations Poe. You have become as big a legend as Luke Skywalker himself.”

“Thanks Amilyn. But the ramming attack was equally legendary.”

“Thank you, Poe.” She looked at him. There was some hesitation.

“We are about to do something really dangerous. We might...”

“I know. If you think it is too dangerous, we just abort the mission. Nobody is going to accuse us for cowardice.”

“I think we should do it Poe. Millions of lives are at stake.”

“I know Amilyn. It is our duty.” They hugged each other.

 

The two Resistance officers went to the balcony overlooking Canto Bight. They could see the arms merchant's villa and five vehicles parked outside it: two trucks and three cars, one of which was a luxurious limo. Poe checked his watch. It was past midnight. He looked at Amilyn. She nodded. 

They waited for a few more minutes. Suddenly four masked figures appeared. One of them carried something that looked like a briefcase.

“I think I see the plans. Where is the arms merchant?”

“Probably dead”, Poe replied. They nodded to each other, put their coats on, exited the balcony, and headed for the hotel room entrance. Like the gentleman he was, Poe Dameron opened the door and gestured for Amilyn to move. 

To his surprise, instead of moving forward Amilyn moved backward with her arms raised. A young man in a tuxedo entered the room holding a blaster in his right hand and aiming her chest. He gestured for Poe to raise his arms. Poe complied. 

The young man gestured to Dameron and Holdo to move backward, closed the door with his left hand and looked at them very carefully.

“Who are you?” Holdo asked. “Are you a police officer?”

“I am a First Order officer.”

“Why are you threatening us?” Dameron asked.

“Because I know who you are.” The agent stopped a little to savor the moment. 

“Should I call you James Bond and Sylvia Trench?” the agent asked. Poe and Amilyn looked at each other, surprised. How had he obtained that information?

“Or should I call you Captain Poe Dameron and Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo of the Resistance?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well ... adding an Aston Martin in the story is just something I could not resist not doing!
> 
> I hope it still remains plot relevant.


	8. Decisive Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two Resistance officers are trapped. They have to escape the First Order agent and then rush to the spaceport before the transport carrying the plans gets away.
> 
> Will they escape? Will they be on time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an action packed chapter. Poe and Amilyn have to work as a team against the First Order. 
> 
> Since Poe has blown up the Starkiller base and Amilyn has rammed the enemy flagship, you can guess how unlucky the First Order is.

“Excuse me?” Holdo asked. She tried to play dumb. 

“You might be telling the truth. But let's not take chances. Here, tie yourself”, the agent said and threw a pair of handcuffs to her.

“And if I refuse?” Holdo asked.

“Then I kill you both and check your dead bodies for fingerprints”, the agent answered in a casual voice. Holdo picked the handcuffs up.

Poe Dameron moved his left arm, the one with his specialized watch on the wrist and carefully aimed the agent's neck. He knew he only had one chance. If he failed … 

“Excuse me sir”, Dameron said. The agent turned to face him. As expected, so did his arm holding the gun. The moment the gun aimed the blank space between Poe and Amilyn, Dameron made a small move with his wrist. A small poisoned dart was launched from his watch and hit the First Order agent on his neck. 

“Duck!” Dameron screamed. Both he and Holdo ducked to the ground. At the same time, the agent felt a pinch on his neck and his vision got blurry. He tried to aim his gun to either Dameron or Holdo, but he could not move his arm. He only managed to fire one shot without really aiming before collapsing to the floor. 

“Poe? Are you all right?” Amilyn asked. The agent's shot had barely missed him. 

“Yes Amilyn. And you?” He stood up and helped her stand up. She threw the handcuffs away and hugged him. 

“I am fine. Nice watch by the way. It reminds me of Moonraker.” Moonraker was a James Bond Film where 007 had twice used a dart throwing watch — made by Q — to save his life.

They looked at each other and nodded. There was no time to waste. They exited the room, closing and locking the door behind them and walked straight to the elevator. They had to assume no additional First Order agents were waiting to ambush them. Had such agents been available, some of they would have been in the room with their colleague. 

They took the elevator straight to the basement where the rented Aston Martin was parked. They unlocked it, Poe started the engine, and Amilyn searched her datapad for the optimal route to the spaceport. 

The drive to the airport was a fast one. Thanks to Dameron's driving skills and Holdo's navigational ones, they managed to reach the spaceport before the convoy. They stopped the Aston Martin in front of the gate barely thirty seconds before the convoy arrived. They expected the gate sentries would not be very thorough in their search because they would be in a hurry with the convoy entering the spaceport. 

They were right. The gate sentries barely checked their datapads before they let them in. As Dameron's intelligence indicated, entering the spaceport during the night was not that uncommon, and they raised few eyebrows. Dameron parked the Aston Martin close to the runway. 

“Ready Mrs. Trench?” he asked.

“Let's go Mr. Bond” she replied. Poe checked his wrist watch was loaded with two poison darts, activated the two explosive pens setting the timer for three minutes, and exited the car. Amilyn followed suit. 

 

As they had planned, they walked towards the runway “accidentally” passing next to the two fully manned anti-aircraft guns. When they passed the first one Amilyn distracted its crew asking where the transport waiting in the runway was while Poe discreetly and quietly dropped an explosive pen next to the gun. They repeated the process with the second gun. 

“Ninety seconds”, he whispered while checking his watch. She nodded. 

They walked towards a transport ready to take off. They could observe four stormtroopers standing in attention in front of its left side entrance. There were five people approaching the transport: a First Order officer and four masked men. One of the masked men was carrying a briefcase — apparently with the plans inside — and another one was handcuffed, probably the slicer. The other two masked men were pushing the handcuffed one forward. 

The transport was a conventional one. It could carry up to twenty troops and had three crew members: a pilot, a copilot and a rear gunner. 

Sixty seconds before the explosions. The four masked men and the officer reached the transport. Holdo checked her belt. There was one blaster in a holster and another one hidden in the small of her back. 

“Hey, wait a minute!”, Vice Admiral Holdo said to the people gathered to the transport's side. All nine of them turned to look at them. 

“Where do you think you are going?” Holdo continued. Fifty seconds.

“Commander?” she said looking at Dameron. Poe stood to attention. Holdo took a few seconds to talk both to buy some time and to give an aura of intimidation. “Could you please inform the Major about the General's orders?”

“At your orders ma'am”, Dameron said, playing his role. He calmly retrieved his datapad from his belt. He noticed that two of the stormtroopers were eyeing him carefully while the other two were looking at Holdo. Thirty seconds.

Poe noticed the Vice Admiral had positioned herself exactly where they had planned: next to the transport's tail, about two meters away from the four stormtroopers. It would be her task to eliminate them. 

“Major, General Hux has received new intelligence”, Dameron said. “It is about the plans you have … managed to obtain. According to the intelligence ... ” Poe paused for emphasis.

“The General has reason to believe the Resistance blackmailed the arms merchant. That is why he was so hesitant to sell you the plans. We also have reason to believe ...”

Two explosion were heard almost simultaneously. The two anti-aircraft guns were blown up. All turned to look at them ... except from Dameron and Holdo. 

With fast and accurate moves, Holdo drew her main blaster from its holster with her right hand and her backup one from the small of her back. The four stormtroopers had their backs turned to her. She aimed the nearest two troopers with her two blasters and fired. Both fell to the ground, dead. The other two had barely realized what had happened when she aimed and fired again, killing one of them. The fourth one turned to face her, but she shot and killed him before he had a chance to do something. 

At the same time, Dameron fired two small poisonous darts against the two masked men guarding the slicer. The darts were silent and the explosions and Holdo's shots had diverted their attention away from him. In a quick move, he drew his gun and shot the masked man holding the briefcase.

The major had recovered from his initial shock and had turned around only to see Holdo killing the stormtroopers. He drew his gun, took aim … and was killed by Dameron without managing to fire a shot. 

Amilyn looked at Poe, smiled with gratitude, and rushed to the transport door. There were three more enemies to go. Poe followed her. 

The rear gunner had tried to traverse the gun turret to either hit Holdo or Dameron but his attempt had failed. But both Resistance officers had intentionally been very close to the transport and the turret guns could not depress enough to hit them. How could he fight back now?

“Everybody out. Now!” both Resistance officers shouted. The crew members were unarmed and immediately complied. They didn't go very far though. The moment they exited the transport, Poe and Amilyn set their weapons to stun mode and shot them in the back rendering them unconscious. 

Both Resistance officers looked at the masked figure of the handcuffed slasher. On the one hand, he was there without his consent, in essence a prisoner of the First Order. On the other hand, he was not reliable and their escape plan could only work for two people, not three. With some regret they shot him, stunning him. 

Poe went to the cockpit to start the transport engines while Amilyn went to pick up the briefcase with the plans. She retrieved the plans, entered the transport, closed the door, and headed for the gun turret. Five seconds later, she was sitting on the gunner's chair. She adjusted the chair for her height, checked the gunner scope, turned the laser rangefinder on and turned the twin turret guns that fired plasma projectiles to her first target. 

There were two firing modes for the guns. The fast and light fired 1,200 projectiles per minute but the projectiles had low penetrating power. They could penetrate stormtrooper armor and unarmored vehicles but that was all they could do. Holdo adjusted the setting to slow and heavy. They fired half the projectiles, but they had more power, strong enough to penetrate starfighter cockpits and fuel tanks, missile fuel tanks, and anti-aircraft gun hydraulic systems. 

There were two TIE fighters about two hundred meters to the left of the transport and two to the right at the same distance. Their mission had been to escort the transport carrying the plans to a First Order spaceship orbiting Canto Bight. 

The moment Holdo and Dameron attacked and killed the First Order personnel, all four of them were manned and ready for launch. As a response, the First Order pilots immediately started the TIE fighter engines. They didn't have to take off to doom Poe and Amilyn. They only needed to turn their TIE fighters to face the transport and then use their forward firing guns to blow it up.

The two Resistance officers had anticipated that move. For that reason, Holdo's first turret attack was against the forward TIE fighter to the left. She adjusted the scope for night vision, set the guns for fixed two-second bursts, aimed at the enemy fighter cockpit, and pulled the trigger. 

Twenty plasma projectiles left the turret guns and hit the TIE fighter cockpit. Some of them hit the cockpit and destroyed the flight instruments while others hit the First Order pilot killing him. To be sure, Holdo adjusted her aim to one of the TIE external fuel tanks and pulled the trigger for a second time. The fuel tank started burning. Soon it would blow up destroying the fighter.

As a pilot Poe knew the flight characteristics of TIE fighter, and he had told her it would take the four fighters two to three minutes to turn and face them. Amilyn didn't worry though. A well-trained gunner could destroy all four of them within a minute and that was how much it took her.

“Two minutes to take off. Shields are up”, Poe said.

“Good.”

The energy shields for a transport were just strong enough to deflect small arms fire like the one coming from stormtrooper rifles. Poe had managed to activate the shields just in time. A few seconds later, stormtroopers approached the transport and started firing with no effect. Without hesitation, Holdo set the guns to rapid fire mode and mowed them down.

There was one minute to take off. Amilyn set the guns back to heavy fire mode, and tried to destroy as many anti-aircraft guns as possible. She managed to destroy three firing three two-second bursts against each one of them.

The transport started moving on the runway, accelerating with each passing second. Holdo aimed another anti-aircraft gun and started firing two-second bursts against it till it destroyed it.

Amilyn checked the guns. They were equipped with an automated loading system and there was enough ammo to fire many hundreds of bursts. 

 

“Who the hell are you? What do you think you are doing?” a voice screamed on the radio. A very frustrated First Order officer for sure.

"The name is Bond. James Bond!” Poe said. Amilyn barely suppressed a laughter. “Sorry for stealing the transport. I am on a date” he said and turned the radio off.

“Well Sylvia”, Poe said “do you like our date so far?”

“I love it James! It is so explosive!” 

“It's all because you have an explosive personality Mrs. Trench”, Poe said. This time Amilyn burst into laughter. 

Poe laughed himself and pulled a lever. The transport took off. It was time for the hardest part of the mission.

 

A pylon turn is a maneuver where an aircraft makes turns around a specific point of reference on the ground. The point of reference can be a parked vehicle, a building or simply an imaginary object with a specific set of coordinates. The idea is that the aircraft always maintains its altitude and a constant distance from the point of reference like riding an imaginary circle the center of which is the point of reference.

The idea behind the pylon turn is that an aircraft equipped with side firing guns can circle a ground target and constantly hit it. There are specialized aircraft and spacecraft with a big number of fixed side firing guns of various calibers, whose mission is to destroy all types of ground targets. 

The transport Holdo and Dameron had hijacked had only one turret with twin firing guns. It was not designed as a gunship, although its turret optics could be used to aim ground targets while it flied and it could perform pylon turns. It could only fire ten projectiles per second, much less than the hundreds a specialized gunship could. 

To compensate for the lack of firepower, Holdo and Dameron had focused on accuracy. They had decided the transport would fly at a low altitude and would move slowly.

As soon as the transport reached two hundred meters in attitude, Poe Dameron turned it to the left and started performing a pylon turn. There were still six anti-aircraft guns to destroy, twelve missile batteries, and eight TIE fighters. 

Holdo looked at the night vision, selected an anti-aircraft gun as her next target and took careful aim. It was harder when flying. On the ground they were stationary and so were the targets. In the air, she had to carefully calculate the lateral movement of the aircraft compared to the targets. 

Holdo pulled the trigger. The projectiles fell to the right of the gun, concentrated on a small area next to it. Fortunately, the gun crew didn't fire back, and neither did the other anti-aircraft guns. She and Poe had been right. The level of readiness in the base was really low.

Amilyn adjusted her aim and fired again. This time she got closer. She still missed though. The transport moved, and she could no longer hit the target. Wasting no time, she selected another one, also an anti-aircraft gun, took careful aim, and pulled the trigger. She destroyed it with the third try. She managed to do the same with a second gun.

The first pylon turn was over and Holdo had managed to destroy two anti-aircraft guns. Four more to go. 

“I go to altitude two. They have manned their guns” Poe said. “They also try to prepare their fighters for launch.”

“OK. Let me know if one of their fighters starts moving.” A moving fighter could taxi the runway, take off, and hunt them down. Its speed and maneuverability, combined with its more than decent firepower would make it a very dangerous foe. Better to destroy it on the ground where it was still harmless.

The last four enemy anti-aircraft guns opened fire. They fired wildly in many directions, but they aimed too low to be a danger to the two Resistance officers. Holdo concentrated her fire on one more anti-aircraft gun, destroying it with four bursts. 

The remaining three guns opened fire on them. Poe had to change their altitude again to avoid their fire. Changing altitudes and holding fire was a standard technique gunships used to confuse enemy observation. It worked. The First Order guns kept firing at a different altitude completely missing them.

Poe could observe the tents used as makeshift hangars had been removed. Eight aircraft were getting ready to take off. One of them had actually activated its engines. 

They had just ended their second pylon turn. Holdo had destroyed another gun. Only two remained to oppose them when …

“TIE fighter moving!” Dameron said in a calm voice. “Position: beginning of the runway.”

“Engaging”, Amilyn replied in an equally calm voice.

The TIE fighter had just moved to the beginning of the runway and was slowly turning to a launching position. Holdo's first salvo hit the ground before it. Her second salvo was more accurate and two of the projectiles hit the wings causing some damage. The third salvo was even better: five projectiles hit the fighter, one of them hitting the pilot on his chest, killing him. The fourth salvo wrecked the aircraft and hit its engine, stopping it. 

Dameron had to change his altitude again. Holdo didn't like that because it made her aiming much harder. On the other hand she knew they had no choice. 

The fourth pylon turn had just started and Amilyn took aim against one of the enemy guns. Soon it was ablaze. One to go. A minute later the last gun was gone as well.

“OK Commander, last gun destroyed, let's get to a lower altitude”, Amilyn said. Dameron immediately complied. 

 

Without enemy fire to threaten them, the remaining targets were easy prey. The Vice Admiral aimed for the remaining parked TIE fighters and within three minutes she had wrecked them all. Five minutes later she had destroyed all missile batteries. They were free to go. 

“The coast is clear Commander. We may go to space now”, Amilyn said.

“All right. You are an excellent fighter and an excellent person Admiral”. A warm smile was formed on her face.

“Thank you so much Commander”, she replied, her voice full of gratitude.

 

Thousands of kilometers above the city of Canto Bight, a lonely First Order spaceship was waiting. General Hux had ordered its commanding officer to wait for a transport to dock in its main hangar bay and confirm it carried a briefcase with plans for the First Order. The moment the confirmation came, the spaceship should jump to hyperspace and reach the First Order flagship where Hux and a specialized group of scientists waited.

The commanding officer checked the report in his datapad. The Canto Bight base had been attacked and damage had been reported. Maybe that was the reason why the transport hadn't arrived yet.

A lonely radar signal appeared on the main radar console of the bridge. It was the transport. Strange, the officer thought. The transport was supposed to be escorted by four TIE fighters but it appeared to be alone. Perhaps the enemy attack had damaged them. 

To be on the safe side, the spaceship commander ordered two TIE fighters launched from the hangar. They would escort the transport in case the Resistance had X-wing fighters waiting in ambush.

 

“Feeling better now Amilyn?” Poe asked.

“I have been through so much during these days”, she replied. Poe was about to answer when the radar screen flashed in front of him.

“A First Order frigate in front of us. The transport is supposed to enter its hangar and park there” Poe said. “We cannot just run away. They will launch TIE fighters, and we are too slow to evade them.”

“I think I agree, so let's go for plan B. You know, the one with stuff blowing up”, the Vice Admiral said with a smile.

“I always like plans involving gorgeous women and stuff blowing up”, Commander Dameron said, waiting for his reward.

Two seconds later his reward came. Amilyn gave him a soft kiss on his forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pylon turn technique I mentioned in the chapter is a real one. Its first confirmed use was by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. 
> 
> There are specialized aircraft that perform pylon turns to attack ground targets. The most notable of them is AC-130. Its main weapon is a 105 mm cannon!


	9. Obstacles and scars in the soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting with Luke Skywalker didn't go as planned and Chewie tries to explain Finn and Rey why.
> 
> Meanwhile Poe and Amilyn have survived the spaceport attack but they still have to deal with an enemy frigate and the psychological toil the deaths they have caused bring.

It hadn't worked as planned, Finn and Rey had to admit. The legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker hadn't agreed to help them. He was still consumed by guilt for his failure to stop Ben Solo from turning to the Dark Side and joining the First Order.

Things become worse when Rey mentioned the fact Kylo Ren — as Ben Solo called himself now — had killed Supreme Leader Snoke, only to take his place. The old Jedi Master hadn't anticipated that. Ben hadn't been just evil, he had been evil and ambitious.

Rey had also returned the ancient Jedi texts she had stolen from the first Jedi temple on Alch-To and had apologized for taking them without permission. Luke had forgiven her saying he had planned to burn them anyway.

In the end, Luke didn't come with them. It was not only guilt though. It was also bitterness.

 

On board the Millennium Falcon Rey had to ask the question.

“Why is Luke Skywalker so bitter?” Rey asked Chewie. Chewie spent a few minutes explaining things.

All those years Han Solo and Leia Organa accused each other for everything wrong in their marriage, including their son's problems instead of accepting individual responsibility. In such a way, they could never join forces to help their son Ben, and that left them with only one option: they sent their son to train in Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy.

When Ben destroyed the Jedi Academy and killed many of Luke's students, Luke took the blame for what had happened. But was it only his fault? No. Ben's parents were also responsible. If they had talked to him, engaged him like parents, Ben might have ended up a good person.

Leia sent Rey to Alch-To, asking her to convince Luke Skywalker to join the Resistance … without even acknowledging her responsibility. That was why Luke was so bitter. After so many years and Leia remembered him only because she needed his help … just like when she had essentially dumped her son to him.

“Just like then …. Without even a word of apology.”

 

Amilyn Holdo checked the radar. “Two First Order fighters approaching” she told Dameron. Ten seconds later, the radio came to life. It was the frigate commander.

“This is frigate Matrix. Why are you late and why are you without escort?” 

Poe and Amilyn had already prepared their cover story. “This is Transport One. The spaceport was attacked. It was a coordinated attack from enemy air and ground units. They destroyed our escorts and we barely managed to escape. We have an intelligence officer with a briefcase chained on his wrist, wounded. Our tail gunner is wounded as well.”

“Acknowledged Transport One. Two fighters will escort you to Matrix. We will have a medical team waiting for you.”

Poe looked at the Vice Admiral and turned the radio to receive only. The First Order could not hear them. 

“Fortunately they bought our story. But we need to destroy the fighters or our plan goes to hell” he said.

“I agree. What means of attack do we have Poe?” 

Poe checked the cockpit console. There were two weapons systems they could use. The first one were the twin tail turret guns. The second one were two small anti-fighter missiles under the transport wings.

“The missiles have a short range and a small warhead” Poe explained. “TIE fighters can easily evade them, unless we are very close. Even then its small warhead means the fighter will probably survive the hit … unless we hit it with two missiles.”

“The tail guns are not good for long distances”, Holdo said. “The fighters can easily evade their fire. I can have a certain hit only if they are closer than two hundred meters. Even then I can only destroy one of them. The other one will run away and hit us from a distance.”

“I agree” Poe replied. “So we need to use both systems, one against each target. Let's think of something.”

A few minutes later they had come with their plan. 

 

After leaving Alch-To, the Millennium Falcon went to its next objective. 

“Poe is somewhere out there”, Finn said. “He will send a signal within the next hours or days. We just need to wait.”

“Yes, with an agent with the code name Sylvia Trench. I wonder who she is”, Rey replied.

 

“Ready Mrs. Trench?” Poe Dameron asked.

“Ready Mr. Bond”, Amilyn Holdo replied. Poe turned the radio on again.

The two TIE fighters appeared, The first one circled them and took position about one kilometer in front of them. The second took position about five hundred meters to the right of them.

“This is Falcon One in front of you and Falcon Two in the right. We shall escort you to the frigate.”

“Acknowledged Falcon One”, Poe Dameron replied. 

Amilyn unbuckled her seat belt and stood up. “I am going to check the wounded Commander. I can also hear some noises from our fuselage. Maintain current course” she said. The fighter pilots could hear her speak.

“Yes ma'am”, Poe replied. Amilyn disappeared to the back of the transport, invisible to the fighter pilots. 

Two minutes passed. “Commander, increase speed. The officer is losing consciousness!” Amilyn said in a somewhat excited voice. Poe did as ordered. It was all part of their plan. 

“Check the right fuel tank status in the console, will you?” Amilyn said. “I hear a noise coming from it. I suspect a leak.” Poe pretended to do that. 

“Major, I just saw the warning. We are losing fuel. I suspect they hit us when we took off. Can you see any leak from the inside?”

“Negative. It must be an external one. Ask one of the fighters to perform visual observation.” 

“Falcon Two”, Poe asked on the radio. “Can you get closer and check our right fuel tank?” A few seconds later, Falcon Two did just that.

Meanwhile, the transport had increased speed and was closer to Falcon One. The distance was six hundred meters. When it reached three hundred...

“This is Falcon Two. I can see no leak.” Poe pressed a button in the console and a few liters of fuel were ejected from the tank. It was a controlled ejection but it would fool the fighter pilot. 

“I can see it now. But I need to get closer to see better.” He was three hundred meters away. When he reached two hundred or fewer...

Two minutes later both TIE fighters were in the desired distances. Amilyn entered the gun turret, activated the guns, set the firing mode to two-second heavy bursts and turned the turret to the right. When she gave the signal... 

Poe Dameron activated the target seeking function in the transport radar and armed the missiles. He selected Falcon One as his target, set both missiles to hit it and waited …

Vice Admiral Holdo zoomed at Falcon Two cockpit using the gun turret optics, took careful aim and...

“Now!” she screamed and pulled the trigger. Twenty projectiles were launched against Falcon Two. At the same time Commander Poe Dameron pushed a button on the console launching the two missiles against Falcon One.

Amilyn's aim was true and the projectiles pierced the cockpit, killing the pilot. She fired three more bursts blowing the enemy fighter up. At the same time, Poe's missiles destroyed Falcon One.

Amilyn returned to the cockpit, closed the hatch connecting it with the rest of the transport, sat on her seat, and buckled the seat belt.

“OK Poe, safe and sound. Let's ram them now.”

“You really have a habit ramming First Order spaceships Admiral”, Poe said. Amilyn gently touched his shoulder.

 

The frigate commander had observed the destruction of his two fighters with his own eyes because it had happened really close to his ship. Were the people inside the transport defectors or traitors? Or were they Resistance spies? He had no way to know, and he didn't care. He ordered all projectile, laser, and missile weapons to fire against them. He also ordered all TIE fighters in the hangar launched. 

Why was the transport accelerating and approaching the frigate? Wouldn't it be better to move away so as to escape? Actually no, the First Order officer thought. If they tried to move away, his fighters would hunt them down and destroy them. If they moved towards them …

“Evacuate the hangar now!” the frigate commander ordered. “Close the hangar doors!”

 

Poe Dameron pushed a button. The next moment flares and chaff were launched from the fuselage. They were very useful for confusing the sensors of heat-seeking and radar-seeking missiles.

Just like Vice Admiral Holdo on Raddus, Poe increased shield power to maximum. That would deplete the transport batteries but till they were depleted everything would be over anyway.

Their plan would be to use the transport as a ram, just like Amilyn had done with Raddus and hit the frigate hangar. That would prevent the enemy fighters from taking off. To escape, they only needed to pull a lever in the cockpit. The cockpit was detachable and it would be launched at a safe distance away from the frigate. It would essentially act as an escape pod.

“Ready Admiral?” Poe asked.

“Ready Commander”, Amilyn replied. Poe made a final adjustment to the transport course, looked at her eyes, smiled, and pulled the lever. 

The next second the cockpit, sealed to prevent air leaks, was launched in space. It moved at a vertical trajectory compared to the transport, away from the frigate and its defensive weaponry. Almost none tried to hit it. They were all trying to hit the approaching transport.

The rest of the transport found its target. The frigate energy shields managed to slow it down, but they couldn't stop it. It crashed on the hangar bay door, piercing and melting it. It didn't cause significant damage. Only two TIE fighters were destroyed. Nevertheless, the hangar door could not open, and nobody could hunt down the two Resistance officers.

 

“I think we are safe now”, Poe said. To make certain, he checked the radar. Nothing. 

“We did it Poe”, Amilyn said touching the briefcase. “We did it. We took the plans, we survived, we killed people, a lot of people...” She was ready to cry.

“What is the matter Amilyn?” he said looking at her. “Talk to me, I am listening.”

“It is the ramming we did. It reminded me of Raddus. How many people did I kill that day? Two hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand? How could I do that?” Poe put his right arm around her.

“They were enemies for sure. But they were still human beings. How could I kill so many people?”

Poe could understand how she felt. After all, he had destroyed Starkiller Base. He had estimated he had killed a little more than three hundred thousand people that day. She had killed about the same number of enemies when she had rammed Supremacy, the First Order flagship.

Killing so many people can have a devastating psychological effect on a human. During the first days after the attack, the human mind is still in shock and you haven't realized the magnitude of what you have done. But after some time you feel like a monster and either you become senseless or suicidal.

“Amilyn, you are not the only officer in the Resistance who has caused massive casualties to the First Order”, Poe said in a very soft voice.

“That is correct. You did the same with Starkiller Base.”

“There is a way for you to feel better. Would you like to hear it?”

“By all means Poe.”

Poe went on to explain that when he was still a cadet in the flight academy, a Galactic Civil War veteran had been invited to give a speech to them. He had been a bomber pilot during the war. During a mission he had managed to sneak close to an Imperial troop transport carrying ten thousand stormtroopers and blow it up, killing them all. 

It had been a painful experience for him. He developed sleep problems, drinking problems, and last but not least he became catatonic. There was only one thing that managed to save him: the truth.

What if he had let the transport go? The troopers inside it would have landed on a peaceful planet and killed more than five times their number according to even conservative estimates. By killing ten thousand he saved fifty thousand.

Amilyn Holdo remained silent for a few minutes. 

“Starkiller Base blew up the Hosnian System, so you knew its destructiveness. How many more attacks would it make? A lot. You killed hundreds of thousands … but you saved billions!” Amilyn said and hugged him. 

“And that is why your ramming attack actually saved lives Amilyn. Because you disrupted the operations of the First Order and you deprived them of troops to conduct attacks in various places in the Galaxy. Just imagine how many thousands of lives will be spared each passing day. In the long run, you will save millions!”

Amilyn Holdo was no longer ready to cry. She had calmed down. It all made sense. Why hadn't she thought of it herself? She looked at Poe, grateful.

“I wonder how the person who destroyed the Hosnian System feels” Amilyn said. “He has no excuses. He is the worst criminal there is.”

“General Hux? I hope he will suffer for his crimes” Poe replied.

 

On board the First Order flagship, General Hux was furious. He had just received the news. A group of enemy spies had managed to infiltrate the Canto Bight spaceport, kill First Order personnel, destroy equipment, steal a transport, and escape.

“In all we lost sixteen TIE fighters, twelve anti-aircraft guns, twelve anti-aircraft batteries, thirty-five stormtroopers, seven pilots, five secret agents including a major, and frigate Matrix has received extensive damage to its hangar”, the report mentioned.

The losses were negligible compared to the ones suffered due to the Raddus ramming attack or the Starkiller Base destruction. What really mattered was the loss of the plans. First Order scientists and engineers would work to improve on their cloaking technology but it would take months. A strategic opportunity was gone.

Fortunately, the new Supreme Leader didn't care about micromanaging the army and the operation was not big enough to attract his attention. He could claim the operation had been a success despite casualties but the stolen technology needed improvement to be useful. 

“We will still win. It will just take some months longer”, Hux told himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't remember seeing anyone in the Star Wars universe talk about the psychological burden killing causes. For instance, Luke Skywalker blew the Death Star up. How did he feel about the deaths he caused?
> 
> Part of this chapter is an attempt to address the issue. How did Amilyn or Poe feel for the enemy deaths they caused? How did they deal with that?


	10. The Vice Admiral makes a decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holdo and Dameron board the Millennium Falcon. They also meet "Moneypenny". 
> 
> The Vice Admiral talks with an old friend about Poe's proposal to take over the Resistance. His reply is not what she expects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a breather chapter. It advances the plot, it clarifies what Holdo's decision will be, and it allows for some plot and character development.
> 
> At the same time, there is not so much dramatic intensity or action. It is a somewhat "calmer" narrative.

The two Resistance officers took turns monitoring the pod systems for possible incoming threats. They also started writing their report from the moment Vice Admiral Holdo took command of the Resistance to the moment they stole the plans and rammed the First Order frigate. 

Commander Dameron had suggested they co-authored and co-signed the report because they had reconciled their differences, and they agreed on the facts and their interpretation. Holdo had happily agreed. 

A few hours later, they received a coded message on the radio.

“It is Moneypenny. They have found us” Poe said. 

 

A few minutes later, the Millennium Falcon appeared in front of them. Poe maneuvered the pod with precision and it entered the small hangar bay of the Falcon. Chewie was there waiting for them. 

“Hello again Chewie”, Poe said exiting the pod. A few seconds later Amilyn exited the pod as well. When Chewie saw her, he made an enthusiastic growl and run towards her. He hugged her and lifted her in the air like a doll.

“I am also happy to see you Chewie”, Amilyn said, full of enthusiasm herself. “Chewie is an old friend”, Amilyn told Poe. “Leia Organa introduced us about thirty years ago.” Chewie growled.

“No Chewie, I didn't gain weight. I've kept my weight steady for the past twenty years. Unless, you got weaker.” Chewie growled again.

“What do you mean you became weaker because you no longer eat my cookies?” she asked with a smile. 

A few seconds later Amilyn, Poe, and Chewie entered the Millennium Falcon main area. Finn, Rey, and R2-D2, the famous astromech droid were waiting for them. 

“Hello again everybody”, Poe said. R2 bleeped in recognition.

“Hello Poe”, Rey said. “Mrs. Trench?” she asked looking at Holdo.

“My real name is Amilyn Holdo”, the Vice Admiral replied to Rey. “Sylvie Trench is just a code name for security reasons. She was an ancient spy actually.”

“Just like my code name is Bond, James Bond, an ancient secret agent”, Poe Dameron said. Chewie growled beside him.

“Yes, and Chewie's code name is Moneypenny.”, Rey said. “Poe assigned it to him. I wonder who Moneypenny was though.”

Amilyn could not bring herself to say that Moneypenny had been a female secretary that James Bond occasionally flirted with but never slept with. Poe Dameron really had a weird sense of humor. But for some reason that made him even more attractive in her eyes. 

 

Poe and Amilyn changed clothes from First Order uniforms to Resistance ones and joined Chewie, Finn, and Rose in the Millennium Falcon main room. It was time to exchange information with each other.

Holdo explained the situation on board Raddus, her bitter disagreement with Poe including the mutiny, their reconciliation, and their successful mission to Canto Bight. 

Chewie and Rey recalled the events on Starkiller Base, Han Solo's death, and their escape before Poe Dameron destroyed the base. They continued their narrative with Alch-To, the planet Luke Skywalker lived in exile, Rey's confrontation with Snoke and Kylo Ren, Snoke's death, and her subsequent escape.

“I was so lucky the Resistance attacked Supremacy. That allowed me to escape. ”

“You should thank the Admiral for that”, Poe said with a smile. “She made the attack.” The Vice Admiral returned the smile.

Finally, Finn recalled his mission with Rose to Canto Bight, their success in infiltrating Supremacy, their arrest and their escape when Raddus rammed the First Order flagship.

“I am sorry Admiral”, Finn said. “I should...” Poe cut him short.

“It was my fault buddy, not yours. Don't blame yourself”, Poe said.

“Our fault. Poe and I are the ones to blame. We had our differences and that caused a mess. But we are OK now” Amilyn said with a warm smile. 

 

A few minutes later, the meeting was over. R2 was given the briefcase in order to examine it for potential problems such as locks rigged with explosives. Rey went to the cockpit to pilot the Millennium Falcon and Finn manned one of the tail guns. Poe Dameron entered one of the cabins, closed the door, and started writing part of the report he and Amilyn had agreed to co-author.

Chewbacca and Amilyn were the only ones left in the main room. They were old friends, and they hadn't met each other for years, so they had a lot to discuss.

Both Amilyn and Chewie really loved and cared about Han Solo and Leia Organa. Unfortunately, Han and Leia argued all the time. During the first years arguments were small scale and infrequent and Luke Skywalker, Leia's brother and Han's good friend would help them reconcile their differences. But one day Luke left to found the new Jedi Academy.

The task of reconciling Han's and Leia's differences fell to Amilyn's shoulders. She had some success convincing Leia to calm down but Han was another story. Since Luke was gone, Amilyn enlisted the help of Chewie. Whenever Han and Leia had an argument, Amilyn would visit Chewie, talk to him, and ask him to talk to Han. Chewie would usually hesitate so Amilyn would offer him a box of cookies she had made to motivate him. 

Han and Chewie constantly traveled for business. That was Han's style. At the same time, Leia had become a senator. In other words, both Ben's parents were usually away from home and Amilyn had to spent time with him instead. She could observe the young boy's resentment. He felt abandoned. 

Amilyn had talked to both Han and Leia about Ben. Han's response? Leia was a control freak and never delegated anything as a Senator. She should delegate in order to free time for her son. 

Leia's response? Han traveled all the time, but he didn't have to. He could make more than enough money focusing on short distance and short duration jobs. The rest were more expensive and time-consuming and left him with almost zero profits. Han should focus on Ben instead.

Both Han and Leia had a point. Alas, none of them wanted to see the other person's point of view. 

When Ben turned twelve, it became obvious he was very strong in the Force just like his grandfather Anakin and his uncle Luke had been. Unable to agree on anything and afraid he might turn to the Dark Side like his grandfather, they send him to train in Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy.

“And Ben attacked his uncle, killed many of the other pupils, and joined the First Order? And you saw him kill his own father Chewie?” Leia hadn't told Amilyn all those details. Probably because they were too painful for her. 

“What have you done Ben?” There were tears in Amilyn's eyes. Chewie tried to comfort her. 

A few minutes later, Amilyn Holdo calmed down and asked Chewie the question she wanted. 

“Chewie? According to Poe Dameron, the Resistance should...”

 

After having spent a lot of time writing, Poe Dameron decided to make a break and went to see Finn.

“Everything OK buddy?” Poe asked. 

“Yes. Actually Rey and I...” Poe patted him in the back. 

“Congratulations Finn.” 

“Hey, I didn't except Holdo to be such a nice and decent person. Risking her life to save us all? That is pure heroism.”

“We had a bad misunderstanding. But we are both responsible adults, capable of admitting error and apologizing. She is an officer and a lady”, Poe said with a warm smile. “And perhaps she will become our new boss.”

 

“But Chewie, I only commanded Ninka, a small cruiser.” Chewie growled.

“Yes, I did fine. Yes, I won the battle of Chyron Belt with minimal casualties. But I only had less than fifty people to command, not hundreds.” Chewie growled again.

“A better leader than Leia? What do you mean?” Chewie went on to explain what he meant.

“Leia means well but she is not so effective? Well, she didn't accomplish much as a Senator... but I was not even a Senator. More responsible? I admit error when I make it but ...” Chewie made another comment.

“Yes, Leia is secretive and Han was right? She is a control freak? Well, she certainly likes to have everything under her control and...”

Chewie made one final comment. Amilyn listened very carefully, thought very carefully, and made a very careful decision.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence Chewie. Ask Poe to join us, will you? I have made my decision.” Chewie left to find Poe. 

 

Two minutes later Poe Dameron was standing in attention in front of Vice Admiral Holdo and Chewie. He knew it was the moment to behave in a more formal way.

“Commander Dameron, do you remember that a few days ago you suggested I should take over command of the Resistance?”

“Yes Admiral. Have you reached a decision?” 

“I have Commander. My decision is … to take over!” Poe Dameron could not believe his ears. 

Chewie growled, stood up and opened a hatch next to him that neither Poe nor Amilyn had noticed. Two minutes later, he came out holding a box of champagnes. He looked at them and growled again.

“Champagne as a gift for my heroism in attacking the enemy flagship? Thank you Chewie.” She looked at the box. There was a pink envelope glued on it. There was a message inside the envelope.

“May I read the message Chewie?” Amilyn asked. “It is probably for Han Solo and perhaps Leia Organa.” Chewie agreed and Amilyn opened the envelope and started reading. 

“For Chewie, the most handsome pilot in the Galaxy … for our nights of love and passion! Maz!” Amilyn looked at Chewie with surprise. “Maz? Maz Kanata? Well, I would never expect...” 

Chewie stood up and retreated in horror.

 

The two Resistance officers spent the next two hours rereading their report. They went through everything and corrected every mistake or disagreement they could find. Strangely, the most painful incident – Dameron's mutiny – did not cause and disagreement at all. Both officers realized how stupid they had been that day. 

After one final look at the report, Poe Dameron signed it with his electronic signature. So did Amilyn Holdo one minute later. 

“OK 007, let's get some rest.” 

 

Amilyn and Poe were inside one of Falcon's cabins. They had turned the lights off, and they were laying on the bed observing the stars in the Galaxy. They had brought the box with the champagnes with them and had opened one bottle. Fortunately, Maz Kanata had included some elegant champagne glasses in the box.

“Cheers Admiral”, Poe said.

“Cheers Commander”, Amilyn replied. 

“I wonder what happened between Max Kanata and Chewie. But he was so hesitant to speak.”

“Oh well, let's let him keep his secrets” Amilyn replied. She looked at the window. The stars were so many and so beautiful. 

“So much beauty in the Galaxy … and that war has ruined it. So many lives lost … and so many yet to be lost.”

“I agree Amilyn. The Clone Wars lasted three years. The Galactic Civil War four. This war? Who knows?”

“In any case we have to win. They are ruthless and dangerous. If we lose, they will slaughter trillions. We have to recruit people and create a strong alliance against them.”

“I have full faith in you Admiral.”

“Good. I will need some help, so I'll keep you around for training duties, for creating and evaluating new plans and … for other duties.”

“Other duties? I really cannot understand Admiral”, Poe said in his most innocent voice. He had a big smile on his face.

“Let me show you what I mean Commander”, she said in her most seductive voice, while her long fingers touched his face.


	11. Extreme Ownership

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amilyn and Poe reach the Resistance base. They decide to meet the former mutineers to clear all misunderstunding and Leia Organa to convince her things need to change in the Resistance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no action sequences in this chapter. It is mostly talking between characters. 
> 
> There is also a little 007 discussion but it is mostly plot relevant.
> 
> Enjoy!

A few hours later, the Millennium Falcon reached the hidden allied base. Before it landed, Poe and Amilyn woke up, got dressed, and got ready for action. Together, they made a mental rehearsal of all the activities they had to perform during the following hours.

Two meetings were to take place. The first one would be with all the people who took part in the mutiny, either supporting it or opposing it. Holdo and Dameron would attend it together in order to remove all traces of misunderstanding.

The second would be with Leia Organa. They would have to convince Leia to step away from military operations and take other duties.

 

As soon as the Falcon landed, its main door opened, and Finn and Rey stepped outside. Leia Organa and C-3PO were waiting for them. There was also a crowd gathered in the distance, Resistance members who had heard the rumors about Dameron's mission and Holdo's survival. 

Finn and Ray saluted and waited for the rest of the people on board the spaceship to disembark.

Next came Chewie, accompanied by R2. When R2 saw C-3PO, it bleeped like a maniac.

“Yes, I am happy to see you again R2”, C-3PO said.

It was time for the two Resistance officers to disembark. 

“Welcome back to the Resistance Admiral! Ladies first, right?”

“Always the gentleman Commander. But let's move together.”

The Commander — demotions be damned — and the Vice Admiral stepped from the Falcon ramp to the waiting crowd. The moment the tall and beautiful Vice Admiral touched the ground, all heads turned to look at her. They could't believe she was alive.

“Amilyn! Amilyn! You made it!” Leia Organa rushed to hug her fellow Resistance officer and best friend for more than thirty-five years.

“I made it Leia! It is so good to be back!” Amilyn replied. “But I wouldn't have survived without help” she said, gesturing to Poe Dameron.

Amilyn Holdo looked at Poe. “Once more, thank you for saving my life Commander. And thank you for accepting my apologies.”

“You are welcome Admiral”, Poe Dameron replied. “From my part, I thank you for saving everyone's life, mine including, and accepting my apologies as well.”

Leia Organa was puzzled. Poe and Amilyn seemed to be on friendly terms, very friendly indeed. But hadn't they argued just a few days ago? Hadn't Dameron started a mutiny against Holdo?

C-3PO and R2 went straight to Major Boothroyd with the briefcase containing the plans. Finn, Rey, and Chewie went for debriefing. The rest of the crowd went to their duties as well. Only Leia, Amilyn, and Poe remained.

“I know what you are thinking Leia”, Amilyn said. “Yes, we had our differences with Poe, but we have reconciled them. Here is our report” Amilyn said and gave Leia her datapad. “We have co-authored and co-signed it. Please read it, and we shall talk about it later.”

Poe? Had Amilyn called Dameron with his first name? Had they become lovers?

 

General Leia Organa went to her quarters to read the report. Meanwhile, Holdo and Dameron searched for the people who would take part in their first meeting. A few minutes later, about fifteen people were gathered in a small conference room. About half of them had supported Dameron in his mutiny, while the rest had been against it. 

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen”, Amilyn Holdo said addressing the whole group. “To cut a long story short, Commander Dameron and I gathered you here to talk about a mutiny.”

“Let me get it straight”, Vice Admiral Holdo said. “I am mostly to blame for the mutiny. It was my fault to keep you in the darkness without revealing my evacuation plan. It made you think there was no plan or that the plan was too bad for me to share.”

“Both Poe Dameron and I have realized our differences were a matter of misunderstanding and nothing more than that. For that reason we have apologized to each other and accepted each other's apology.”

“It is now time to analyze what happened and why in a calm and professional manner.”

According to both Holdo and Dameron, the worst mistake a military organization could make would be to gather all of its people and equipment in one place. If the enemy successfully attacked that one place, everything would be gone.

“The New Republic did that mistake with the Hosnian System”, Poe said. “And we partly made it with the D'qar base. We put too many of our people and equipment there.” 

To prevent a total loss, the Resistance had partly dispersed its forces. The most notable example had been light cruiser Ninka, led by Vice Admiral Holdo. 

Unfortunately, when you are an officer — especially a senior one like Holdo — and you are away from the main base of operations, you tend to miss information. You will still get official reports but there is much more information than what the reports contain. In addition, you don't develop working relationships with most of the Resistance officers, which is something you will miss in case of an emergency.

“For instance, when did you find out who had led the Starkiller Base attack? It was not part of any official report”, Holdo said. “Or think of all the difficulties we had developing our evacuation plan. What if other officers had helped us? But we didn't know them and their capabilities.”

The only way to prevent such losses in knowledge is rotation. Officers should be rotated on a regular basis to both maintain knowledge of people and critical information to a greater depth than official reports give. Unfortunately, the Resistance didn't do that. Holdo was stuck with the same officers and crew for years.

“Don't get me wrong. You are all excellent professionals and I really enjoyed our cooperation”, Amilyn said. “But we were somewhat isolated from everything. We were in a sense in a bubble.”

When the First Order killed most of the Resistance senior leaders, Holdo was forced to take charge. But due to the bubble effect, Holdo didn't know about evacuation plans and didn't know who to trust. She had to rely on Ninka officers only. 

“I made the mistake of assuming the rest of you would trust me as much as Ninka crew members did”, Holdo said looking at the formed mutineers. “But you were right not to trust me. You hardly knew me.”

Holdo explained why she hadn't told Dameron her plan. The combination of not knowing a lot about the Resistance main plans and the fact the First Order had located them through hyperspace meant she had to start from scratch and develop something on her own. So for starters, she had nothing to tell him for the first hours.

The second problem had been that Holdo had misunderstood Dameron's insistence. She had considered him an egoist. In reality, Dameron simply wanted to inform other Resistance members about their plan. 

“Yes, people asked me about the plan all the time. What were we going to do? Just move in a straight line till we run out of fuel?” Poe said. “And that was why I came to ask again and again. I admit I should have been more polite and more understanding about the pressure you were faced with Admiral.”

“I would have informed Poe Dameron about our plan if I had understood his motives” Holdo said. “But I considered him a reckless flyboy who had been demoted for disobeying orders and losing our bomber fleet in the process.”

“In reality, Dameron had really good reasons to disobey these orders. And besides, we consider Luke Skywalker a legend for blowing up the Death Star. Poe Dameron did the same with Starkiller Base. I mean, if Luke Skywalker had asked about our plans, would we have refused to share them?”

In the end, the reason for the mutiny had been misunderstanding. Due to the bubble effect Holdo could not understand the morale had deteriorated and Dameron wanted information to help restore it. Dameron didn't understand the pressure Holdo was faced with and misunderstood lack of timely information for lack of competence.

“In all”, Dameron concluded, “we made mistakes that were a result of poor communication, high pressure levels, tiredness, and lack of understanding.” He looked at all people in the room. “There are only two people to blame for them, and I am the one of them.”

“And I am the other one”, Vice Admiral Holdo said. “For that reason, Dameron and I are to work together to make certain such mistakes never happen again.” She shook hands with Poe and gestured for everyone to do the same. They all did. The mutiny was finally over.

 

One minute later, all people had left the room except Poe and Amilyn.

“It went perfectly”, Poe said.

“It happens to responsible adults who take extreme ownership for their mistakes.”, Amilyn replied. 

“I like the phrase: extreme ownership. A very strong one.” 

“OK, time to meet a General.”

 

The meeting between Poe Dameron, Amilyn Holdo, and Leia Organa had just started. And Leia Organa was puzzled. She had read the report Amilyn and Poe had co-authored.

“I admit I am impressed the two of you got along so well. And your mission together in Canto Bight was a great success.”

“Thank you, Leia”, Amilyn replied. “We had our differences, and we both made serious mistakes. But they were honest ones, and we took ownership of them.”

Leia Organa was still puzzled. After so many years involved in politics, where accepting responsibility for even the tiniest mistake was avoided like the plague, Amilyn Holdo simply accepted them and moved on. How refreshing!

“Poe Dameron started a mutiny against you”, Leia said looking at Poe.

“I know Leia, but I am mostly to blame for it. I left everyone uninformed, and I was rude and sarcastic with Poe. Besides Dameron was already bitter because of his demotion.”

“It was still wrong to be rude and uncooperative with the Admiral”, Dameron said.

“I demoted you Poe because you disobeyed one of my orders. You ordered our bombers to attack, and we lost them.”

“In all fairness, there are orders that even the most loyal and obedient troops would disobey” Holdo mentioned. 

Leia looked at Holdo deep in the eyes. She never had expected Amilyn say such a thing. After all, hadn't Amilyn publicly reprimanded Dameron for his demotion?

“Don't get me wrong Leia. Disobedience is wrong. But what if we pick up our five most loyal troopers and order them to jump from a cliff to their deaths? What will the outcome be? Five dead Resistance troopers or a mutiny?” 

“I am never going to give such an order Amilyn. I don't sacrifice lives for no reason” Leia said looking at Poe.

“I know Leia”, Amilyn said. “Neither do I. And neither does Dameron. My point is that people don't obey orders just because their boss says so. They obey because they believe they mean something and accomplish something. The same five troopers will fight to their deaths if that means they will save the rest of us. Do we all agree on that?”

With some hesitation Leia replied. “Fine, we agree. I suspect that relates to Dameron and his attack on that dreadnought”, Leia said. She was intrigued though. Why would Amilyn Holdo support someone who had mutinied against her?

“Poe Dameron disobeyed orders Amilyn. His demotion was nothing personal.”

“True. But you also sent him alone to Jakku to find the map for Luke Skywalker. You also send him to lead the attack against the Starkiller Base. Am I right Poe?”

“You are right Admiral.”

“So Poe. Would our leader trust you with two highly important missions like them if she didn't believe you have the maturity of character and skills to successfully accomplish them?”

“I believe General Organa trusted me a lot.”

“So if the General trusted you, shouldn't she at least try to understand why you disobeyed her? After all, you are an officer and you know more for spaceship operations than her.”

“I believe the General should have listened more. After all I have fourteen years of theoretical and practical experience.”

Amilyn Holdo looked at Leia. It was time to set her trap.

“Leia, where were you when Poe Dameron blew up the Starkiller base?”

“I was in D'qar base Amilyn”, Leia replied slightly annoyed. She knew where that was heading. 

“In other words, you are alive because Poe Dameron prevented the First Order from blowing up our base, giving us enough time to evacuate it.”

“OK, OK, fine. I was wrong not to listen to an officer who had competence, experience, and I owned him my life. Happy now?” Leia said in a somewhat annoyed tone.

“Poe is here Leia”, Amilyn said. “I suggest we carefully listen to him.” She gestured to Poe to speak. Leia could not prevent it. 

“I ordered the attack because if that dreadnought remained unharmed, the First Order would have used it to attack allied bases and allied fleets in the galaxy. Let's face the facts. If they are ruthless enough to kill dozens of billions in the Hosnian System, what is going to prevent them from using a dreadnought to kill millions? Morality?”

“I am terribly sorry for the loss of our bombers and our bomber crews. But it is not only us General. It is not only us Admiral. There are hundreds of trillions of people in the galaxy. Even if one in a million choose to fight against the First Order, that makes hundreds of millions fighting against them. The few hundreds of the Resistance are just a drop in the bucket in comparison.”

“Why did I order the attack? Because I wanted to give all those millions a better fighting chance. Granted, the First Order has many more capital ships. But even one less will help. It will save many times the lives we lost destroying it. I know I took initiative and acted against orders but I could not in good conscience leave that dreadnought kill people left and right.”

When Dameron finished talking, Amilyn looked him in the eyes and smiled. Then she looked at Leia.

“Do you agree with the points Poe Dameron made Leia? Personally, I agree with them.”

“Well, I have to say … they are good points. We wanted to save our bombers. But yes, we had big egos. We only thought of the Resistance … as if the rest of the galaxy waited for us to motivate them.” 

It had worked as planned so far. It was time for Amilyn to give Leia one more push to the right direction. But it required gentleness and subtlety.

“Leia, we should remember you did some really good things for the Resistance. For starters, you founded it. Secondly, you managed to find us a lot of heavy equipment. For such a small organization, we had a very high percentage of capital ships and starfighters.”

“On the other hand, you are not a General.” Amilyn offered Leia a kind and concerned look. “You didn't see the big picture, and the worst part? The moment one of your subordinate officers took initiative, you lost control of the situation.”

“I ordered Dameron to retreat remember?” But Leia knew what Amilyn meant.

“Yes, but since you outranked him and your orders could nullify his, why didn't you just order the bombers back yourself? You had the radio there, in front of you. Were you undecided whether to allow the attack to proceed or not?”

“Yes, I could have done it.”

 

Leia Organa was in an impossible situation. If she believed Dameron was right to attack the dreadnought, she would have to explain why she had ordered him to retreat and then demoted him for disobeying an order she didn't believe herself. If she believed Dameron was wrong to attack, she would have to explain why hadn't pulled rank to terminate the attack herself. 

Poe Dameron and Amilyn Holdo had developed a plan exactly for that situation.

“Will you excuse us Poe?” Amilyn said. 

“Of course Admiral, General. I will visit Major Boothroyd to debrief him about the data we have.”

 

In Major Boothroyd's lab... 

“Good morning Q!” Poe said. “Nice to see you again!”

“Good morning 007”, Boothroyd replied. “How was your mission?”

“That is classified Q.” C-3PO and R2 took the hint and moved outside the office with C-3PO closing the door. 

“OK the two of us now 007. I see the plans, so that part of the mission was a success. Did you really raid a First Order spaceport to steal them as I hear?”

“Yes, I did the flying and the Vice Admiral did the shooting. She is an excellent gunner by the way. In general, we had excellent cooperation.”

“That means your second mission to reconcile with her was a success as well.”

“You can say it was more than a success Q”, Dameron said with a smile and a wink. Boothroyd gave him the manly nod.

“Well, Holdo is certainly gorgeous. So stealing enemy plans, dinner, drinks, gambling, sleeping together...”

“... and a ride with a beautiful car ...” Q looked at him in silence, expectation in his eyes.

“Yes Q, the car was an Aston Martin!”

“You made 007 proud Poe! Dammit, I wish I was there with you!”

 

“So what is the plan Amilyn?” Leia Organa asked.

“Poe Dameron has made a suggestion. You will remain head of the Resistance and you will focus on other duties. You will meet with lots of potential allies, potential financiers, and arms merchants to buy equipment. Essentially your old job in the Senate, but this time with less politicking and more results.”

“And you become my aide while Dameron heads the military operations?”

“No Leia. His suggestion was for me to handle the military operations.”

Leia remained skeptical for a few minutes. So Dameron was not seeking personal glory. And despite his serious disagreements with Amilyn, he had faith in her!

A tear fell from Leia's eyes. 

“Everything all right Leia?”

“I wish I hadn't underestimated Dameron and overestimated myself. I wish I had taken more ownership of my mistakes instead of accusing others for them. And I wish I had listened to you all those years when you told me to stop accusing Han Solo for everything wrong in my marriage.”

Amilyn hugged her old friend. “Listen to me Leia. Everyone has made mistakes. I, you, Poe, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, everyone. The question is not whether you make them. The question is whether you take ownership of them and correct them.” 

 

A few minutes later Amilyn met Poe Dameron. 

“Congratulations on your promotion 007”, Amilyn said. “You are back to Commander.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Trench.” Amilyn looked at Poe, a smile on her face.

“You are welcome Poe. By the way I am officially your new boss now.”

“Congratulations … M!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ownership of mistakes is the main idea of "Extreme Ownership" a book written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. This book has changed my life in many different ways. 
> 
> This book had been my source of inspiration for writing this story. Both support the same idea: that people can and should own their mistakes. 
> 
> So Poe and Amilyn decided to own their mistakes, apologize, and correct them.


	12. Epilogue - Skyfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months pass. What has happened to Poe, Amilyn, and the rest of the Resistance? 
> 
> What are their plans for the future?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter relies on a Bond film ... again. This time the film is Skyfall. In fact, Dameron's choice to attack that dreadnought mirrors Bond's fate in the beginning of Skyfall. (It will be explained in story).

Three months passed since Holdo essentially took command of the Resistance. During those three months, a lot of things changed.

The most important change was decentralization. The Resistance would no longer operate using a small number of relatively big bases like Dqarr. The new military units would have less than a hundred members each and ideally would operate from different planets or even different planetary systems. They would also use smaller spaceships, which were cheaper and easier to maintain.

Commander Dameron wanted even more and even smaller units. The Vice Admiral had agreed in principle but had insisted the logistics would be impossible to manage. Both Resistance officers sat down, analyzed the matter in a calm, polite and professional manner and agreed that for the time being Holdo was right. More decentralization would occur only when logistics permitted.

“That is how we resolve disagreements”, she said. “Like adults.”

Poe smiled and gave her a kiss. “We have learned our lesson Amilyn.”

 

The romantic relationship between Dameron and Holdo continued and became more serious. Both had really strong feelings for each other and wanted to give their best shot. 

The relationship remained a secret for the rest of the Resistance. The two lovers didn't want anyone say Poe slept with Holdo to advance his status or that Holdo had pulled rank to force him become her lover.

It was only a matter of time before everyone started suspecting something was going on. Fortunately, the problem was solved when Poe was temporarily transferred to an adjacent allied military unit. He could still meet Amilyn on a daily basis, but he was no longer her subordinate, therefore they could move more freely.

 

Major Boothroyd was transferred to the Resistance as an exchange for Dameron transferring to his old unit. He had insisted on having the call sign Q, something Holdo immediately accepted. 

To Boothroyd's delight, Holdo had given Dameron the call sign Bond and the code number 007. For herself she had chosen the call sign M. 

 

Rose Tico became Boothroyd's assistant. Her technical skills and her intelligence helped her become a valuable asset for Q. Soon they had modified the stealth technology plans Dameron and Holdo had stolen in Canto Bight to a working prototype and Snoke's former spaceship became the testbed for that.

 

Poe Dameron and the young lieutenant he had first met in the transport escaping from Raddus became good friends. As a sign of trust, the lieutenant revealed Poe that Vice Admiral Holdo was his aunt. Despite this, the lieutenant never asked and never received any preferential treatment and to Holdo's suggestion had kept the fact he was her nephew a secret.

Aunt Amilyn had told him about her relationship with Dameron, and he had approved it. “I really believe you and my aunt are a match Poe.”

Amilyn Holdo still felt guilt for all those people she had killed when she rammed Raddus to Supremacy. Poe understood she was right because he had felt the same with Starkiller base. Amilyn had accepted his argument that her attack had actually saved lives but not wholeheartedly.

For that reason both men had sat down and made an analysis of subsequent First Order attacks in the Galaxy. Their conclusion was that Holdo's attack had indeed reduced such attacks and saved about forty to fifty thousand lives per week.

 

Leia Organa remained head of the Resistance as Amilyn and Poe had suggested. Her rank of General had no substance anymore and had become just an honorary title. Nevertheless, Leia had the authority to contact allies for political, diplomatic, and financial support, and so she did. Soon generous donors helped the Resistance rebuild its fleet and volunteers from many different planetary systems joined its ranks. 

Leia agreed with Dameron's idea for decentralization. It ensured the ability to strike at many different places at the same time, confusing and disorienting the First Order. It also ensured that even if somehow the First Order infiltrated them, the infiltrators would only see a small part of the bigger picture. The Resistance would lose one or two small bases but that would be it.

She had to admit she had been too secretive with her plans. Granted, security was always an issue but it leads to lack of trust. If only she had decentralized the Resistance herself. But then she would have to delegate things, something she rarely did.

“Perhaps Han and Amilyn were right after all. I want everything under my immediate control.”

 

Rey returned to Alch-To to continue her Jedi training with Luke Skywalker. The hostility and misunderstanding between the two of them no longer existed. She absorbed everything the Jedi Master taught her. She was eager to learn and help the Galaxy in any way possible.

Her only regret was that Finn was not with her. Holdo had insisted he should stay with her and Dameron to help them better analyze the First Order mentality and capabilities. Rey had to admit the Vice Admiral had a good point, so she didn't complain. After all, Finn could always reach her. 

 

Leia was on board the Millennium Falcon with Chewie. She was contemplating the events of the previous months: her insistence to consider the lives of their bomber crews more important than the thousands of people their sacrifice had saved, Dameron's mutiny against Holdo that had ended in such an unexpected way... 

But mostly Leia thought of her personal tragedies. Her brother had isolated himself, her husband Han Solo was gone ... killed by his own son … by her own son!

The tears she had suppressed for such a long time flowed from her eyes. There was no reason to hide her weakness so as not to lower the troops' morale. There was none to see her or judge her apart from Chewie and Chewie was an understanding friend. 

Leia had been so good at hiding weaknesses, perhaps too good. Hiding emotions, and most of it hiding mistakes. She had been wrong about the latter, she had to admit. Everyone finds out about your mistakes in the end. Refusing to admit them sets a bad example for your subordinates. How can you convince a subordinate to admit error when you don't do it yourself? And most of it: how can you improve when you don't admit there Is something wrong that needs fixing?

“Time to correct my mistakes Chewie instead of accusing others”, Leia said. She looked at Chewie, a smile on her face. It was the first time she was smiling in months. 

“Chewie? Get me to my brother!”

 

Maz Kanata finally managed to return to her main base of operations in Takodama. She still had feelings about Chewie. “Just like you and Poe Admiral”, she had told Holdo in one of her visits.

Chewie had begged Holdo and Dameron to hide him whenever Maz came for a visit. In return, Chewie would give them all the gifts she brought for him. Her latest gift had been a box with twelve bottles of fine whiskey. Since Chewie was with Leia in a diplomatic assignment Poe didn't have to lie to get the box. 

“Since Maz's champagne was for my achievements, you deserve to get the whiskey for yours”, Amilyn said. 

“A good point. By the way, would you like to join me for a drink?”

“Let me guess 007. Do you mean tonight ... in your quarters?”

“Exactly … M.”

 

It was late in the night when Amilyn Holdo entered Dameron's quarters. Amilyn knew the place well because she had spent many nights in it. It was nothing special, just a small room with a double bed, a small desk, and a small bathroom. The only special part in it was a relative big window with a view in the night sky. She loved it when she laid on the bed next to Poe and they looked at the stars together. (Usually they did so naked).

“I just read the report about the lives I saved you and my nephew made for me. Thank you both for it. It really helped you know.”

“It is good to hear that Amilyn”, Poe replied offering her a glass of whiskey. She took it and turned the lights off. She preferred it that way. Just the light of the stars in the night sky.

“You know”, Poe said “looking at the sky reminds me of a Bond film. It really relates to us.”

“Which one my love?”

“Skyfall. There are many good lessons there.”

“I am listening.”

 

The movie Skyfall starts with 007 and agent Eve trying to stop an enemy mercenary from obtaining a suitcase containing the identities of secret agents. In a critical moment, 007 manages to corner the mercenary on top of a speeding train while Eve watches from a distance. They fight for the briefcase. 

M, the head of MI-6 and boss of both Eve and 007, orders Eve to shoot the mercenary. Eve hesitates. The train is moving fast, 007 is too close to the enemy, and she might shoot him instead. M insists. Eve takes the shot … and accidentally hits 007 allowing the enemy to escape with the briefcase. 

A few days later, the mercenary's boss releases some of the secret agent identities contained in the briefcase to groups of terrorists. Five secret agents die horrific deaths.

“I had that scene in mind when I chose to disobey my orders”, Poe said. “I don't blame Eve for obeying but had she disobeyed then the agents would be alive.”

“You have a point here. I've already told you it was a good call”, Amilyn replied. “But as an officer yourself, you can't expect others to obey when you disobey.”

“I know”, Poe admitted. 

 

The second point was what 007 did after he got shot. He survived and played dead for some time. But when the enemy attacked MI-6 and killed people he chose to return. He was still bitter for M's order that led to him almost dying but there was something bigger than personal bitterness.

“I was bitter with Leia for demoting me and not even listening. There are no excuses for her. And I was bitter with you too Amilyn.”

“I know and I am so sorry.”

“But you had so many excuses. And I will tell you this: I wanted to quit the Resistance.” Amilyn looked at him in surprise. 

“And what convinced you otherwise?”

“You did. Your choice to go down with the ship. I realized I had made the same mistake Leia did: I misunderstood and I hadn't tried to understand. I was guilt-stricken to the core.” 

“So did I Poe. I failed to understand you. That was why I didn't care about survival. Besides, I knew I would feel so much pain from the deaths I would cause. But from all the people, it was you who left me that message.”

“Would you have remained on Raddus If someone else had left the message?”

“Perhaps I would”, she admitted.

 

There were two more points to make about Skyfall. The first one was its title. It had a symbolic meaning. 

“When we hit the First Order it will be as if the sky falls on their heads”, Poe said. “It is a good name for our operation. It has poetry in it.”

“A really good name”, Amilyn admitted. “And the final point?”

“The title song, what else? Do you remember it?”

The moment agent Eve accidentally shot 007, he fell to the sea. That was the moment the movie titles started and the title song was heard. In one of the verses...

“Let the sky fall...”  
“When it crumbles...”  
“We will stand tall...”  
“Face it all together!”

“I think the song is about us”, Poe said. 

“Yes it is”, Amilyn said with a smile on her face. “It will be a long and bitter struggle. But we shall stand tall and face it all … together.” They gave each other a gentle kiss on the lips.

 

The time passed and the conversation kept flowing. The relaxed mood, the drinks, and most of it the chemistry between the two Resistance officers could only lead to one thing.

“By the way, did you really use Moneypenny as Chewie's call sign?”

“Of course”, she replied. “I really liked the joke!”

“Well thought M, well thought!”

“Thank you 007.” She kissed his lips.

Poe approached Amilyn and started undressing her. 

“Oh James!”

 

The End ….

 

But 007 will return to Bond 25 : The Force is with us.

And a certain 007 fan will return to Star Wars IX: The name is Bond. James Bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will change the names of Bond 25 and Star Wars IX when their official titles are announced. The ones here are of course imaginary.


End file.
